SPIDER
mum burnt pornographic magazines in the garage/
a little fire to warm herself by on cold concrete/
i didn't understand why she was burning them/ as i
caught the sight of bodies in smoke/ of naked men
& women dancing on fire together/ your father brings
these home from work to show your little brothers/
it's wrong/ he shouldn't be doing it/ a splash of
turpentine & the bonfire boofed up to the roof/ a
woman's breasts connected to legs without a face/
curling around in cinders up around the rafters/
my trolley sat unused by some planks of stored
wood/ i could not play with my squeaky red trolley
today/ i could not connect it to my three wheeler
& ride away to the other end of the backyard/ a
huge black spider was in it/ it had made a dense
web & sat in the middle of it/ poised & waiting
for my fingers on it/ mum mum: i called/ she came
out from the house/ she went into the garage/ you
wait outside: she said & shut the door behind her/
later on she showed me the black spider in a jar
of turpentine/ all its long legs curled in together/
as though it was hugging itself/ & the turpentine
milky white/ as though all the goodness of spider
had dissolved into it | 
