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Curious Contradiction




I suppose we are all curious contradictions. I certainly am on the subject of spiders. I confess that I don’t like spiders. Or, to put it more accurately, I don’t like them in the same room as me. And the contradiction? I do like spider’s webs; I like them very much indeed.

When I’m out walking, especially in the morning, I scan the hedges for webs bejewelled with dew-drops and fish out the magnifying glass I keep in my walking frame all the better to admire their exquisite beauty. I know that spiders made the webs, and I accept that they are very efficient traps for the insects that make up spiders’ diet, but I still study their beauty through my magnifying glass and continue my walk uplifted. I’ve even written a poem about them.

A curious contradiction? That’s me!


The spider


All night long she wove

a web of finest silk,

hanging it out on a bush to dry


and try

to catch for breakfast

some insect

all unsuspecting

on its early morning flight


but caught instead

a million drops of sunlight.


Written for the Scottish Fellowship of Christian Writers and used by kind permission


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