Eratigena Atrica
There's a giant house spider on the wall;
it slips and drops into my singing bowl.
I'm thinking of the spider that fell
from the ceiling last night.
It clattered, my husband said,
onto the radiator.
This dark crawling star
on my bedside table hears
the sharp tones in my voice
and retreats to the base of the dusty well;
and though I approach it warily
I'm touched by this beast,
who, when I lift the bowl to the window,
falls out. Almost gratefully.
Hélène is a practising psychotherapist and poet living in South Devon. She was joint winner of the Hedgehog Press Full Fat Poetry Collection competition 2020, and her debut collection The Plumb Line was published in 2022. Her poetry can be found in numerous magazines and webzines. She has been highly commended in the International Poetry On The Lake competition and shortlisted in the Wells Poetry competition.