The Web

Two men have a friendship,
longstanding, inviolate.
They work side by side
six days a week, play a round of
golf together, two Sundays a month.
Both share a bond with the woman
who sparks magic with her smile,
blue witch fire in her eyes.

She hovers at the center of the web.

One man denies his feelings for her,
conceals them in layers of silence
hugging the words of their conversations.
He evades the question her smile asks.
His friend knows the answer she seeks
hides it beneath emotions he harbors for her.
He slips his desires into a pillow of silence
tucked under his conversations with her.

As the woman reaches for the man
who resists her, she ensnares the second,
entangles herself.  She confesses her dilemma,
admits to balancing on a Janus-like threshold,
clinging to him while reaching for his friend.
He lies to her, says it doesn’t matter,
too caught up in her magic, the spell
from which his friend feigns immunity. 

The web of silky desires, sticky lies
grows stronger, expands.
The friendships between the men,
between the woman and each man
grow strained, fragile. 

She holds the power to pull the threads,
to unravel the destructive web,
to liberate them all
                                                And crawl away.

Copyright © 1985 Pam Patterson

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