One of Us is Upside Down

There is a spider
living in a corner of the ceiling
above the shower in my bathroom
that has no window

Based on my observations
I have decide she poses no threat
and therefore requires no relocation as it
is a big house and I am not using that spot

and because of her long slender legs
and graceful dancing on invisible wires
that she is a she even though we called them
Daddy Long Legs when I was young

Now that I'm older
I seem to have lost the insistence
to force my place in the grand
scheme of all creatures

I have no idea why
she chose this spot

Perhaps the outside world
proved too much for her
Perhaps to her it's like
living at a day spa

I beg her pardon daily
for my morning interruption
as I scrub and observe
and she dances in the mist

One of us is upside down

I have thought about that
for so long I am no longer
sure which one of us is
right-side up and if
there really is a right-side up

One day I noticed she was carrying something
and she stayed frozen in position for days
until one day I found a very small spider
dead on the shower floor

She had held on for as long as she could
but she had to let go of her young one

Up to heaven and down the drain

then she retreated back to her corner
to be alone as I performed the ceremony
and offered condolences then respectfully
closed the curtain on her private grief

I wonder if she is a refugee or a migrant
or was just seeking a better life
for herself and the family she lost

She is alone now
and some mornings I tell her
there is nothing to catch here
no husband, no food

just the sight of an old man
who can end her lonely nights
in a bath room with no window
by bringing rain to her short days
while upside down with no wires at all