The Girl Who Spoke Spiders

Sara Amis lives in Pine Lake, Georgia where she writes poetry, fiction, and local news. Her work has previously appeared in Stone, River, Sky: An anthology of Georgia poets, Rolling Stone and The Saturday Evening Post. "The Girl Who Spoke Spiders" is in Short Circuit #09, Short Édition's quarterly review.

I don't recommend it.
You might wind up like me,
with spiders on your lips,
crawling out like words.
I never meant to offend.
I just never understood
how the other one, my sister,
got everyone to smile at her.
She was nothing to look at.
I stood her up side by side with me,
our faces next to each other
in the one small mirror.
Plain and brown-haired, oh!
The freckles! Yet, the very birds
would come down to take crumbs
from her hand. I could not
understand it. When she came back
from winter's house, rubies falling
from her mouth and telling that tale,
I thought, At last. Here is something
I can do as well as she. Any fool
can fall down a well.
Something I can do just as easily as she.

Any fool can fall down a well.

© Short Édition - All Rights Reserved

8

You might also like…

Poetry

Rest Stop

Koji A. Dae

The old priest considered the cast-iron oil pot sitting in the corner of the immaculate kitchen. It was heavy, and his back hurt.
The trees growing on the canyon walls whispered to him. "Prepare ...  [+]

Poetry

The Big BOO!

Sibylla Nash

There's something in my closet. Its raspy monster breath makes my curtains flutter at night. I tell my mom, but she says it's just the sound of the wind whispering secrets to the moon.

There's ...  [+]

Poetry