Jumping Spiders

It’s been one of those days
where the spiders jump past me
looking for a better man to scare

They know I’m not one of the better men
That being what I am lends itself
to not being so easily scared

That instead I will look at them
and ask what I can learn from this
as they creep their way into nightmares

of people less enamored of such things
as the small and many-legged make for 
beautiful jump scares, really quite something

I am not one of the better men
I seek to use this knowledge of how to terrify
as a backdrop for how I get through the world

for I am not a good man at all
I’ve got the wisdom of spiders and snakes in me
All the good they do in the world becomes venom

once it’s inside me
I learned to use it for my selfishness
All they want to do with it is survive

and all I want to do is thrive and hide
and leap and slither — come and go
yon and hither

The jumping spiders have it good
Even if they are killed they leave behind
a memory and a shudder…as will I