Member-only story
Spiders Don’t Chew Gum
poem
You’re shown to a table
where a game is underway
the other players already playing
some three to a chair
who make a great noise
about nothing
blow smoke in your eye
and say things like
‘aren’t you a lively one?’
A spider crawls across the table
deals you in, you hate spiders
you hear an egg-timer wound
inside your chest
tossed in an old drawer
forgotten
Fanfare
ladies, gentlemen!
A man and woman
married in the seat beside you
now divorced
what a shame for the children
say all the people
A man chewing gum
shuffles his chair closer
says maybe you want to swap cards
you don’t trust him
he might be a spider
but you remember
spiders don’t
chew gum