Spiders in the House

Little spider on the window,

please be gone when I get back.

Middle spider in the bathtub,

please go back into your crack.

Big ol’ spider on my pillow,

I must put you in a sack –

You’re substantial,

you’re a mammoth,

you’re titanic

(in your way);

guess I’ll let you

loose outside, so

you’ll survive

another day.

Stella Castella

Alex Ready’s post on FB a few weeks ago got me thinking about spiders – and then I started seeing more of them in my house; they know that the season is changing, right?

I used to make a practice of killing spiders in the house – often while emitting fearful shrieks, but then I started to feel bad about it and would first apologize to them. After that, I went through a phase where I frequently warned them to “tell all of your friends and relations” (Pooh reference) to stay outside. That didn’t seem to help. Now I try to capture them and release them outside, when possible. I wish that I could promise to do it every time!

If you, too, are drawn to poems about the creatures with whom we share the planet -check out the following titles by the excellent Douglas Florian: insectlopedia, beast feast, lizards, frogs, and polliwogs, unBEElieveables, and in the swim. You will very much enjoy his illustrations, too!