Instructions to Arachne


Begin with a line
Float it
on the breeze of a single breath
to another surface:
the distance of thought.

From the slack middle,
drop your second
to form a pivotal ‘Y’.
Next, a scaffold of spokes -
anchor each to the frame.

Build a platform at the hub.
Make it firm:
later, as you hang head down -
waiting latent,
your belly will swell with ideas.

In the seam of night and day
trace a spiral outward.
Briefly rest.
Then, edge-to-centre back,
spin your sticky script.

Be nimble across the trap -
use your third claws.
And punctuate weak gaps
with extra thread.
You may eat your guidelines.

Feel tenderly for the struggle:
unseen,
its vibrations will reach you
along silk-strong strands.
End them with a bite.

ix.2005

1 comment:

  1. The painting, Arachne or Dialectics, is by Paolo Veronese - 1575-77.

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