Spider Woman

Now we know
What's behind

The Pink Door

She enters, takes a bow
To applause and cutlery
She wears a red satin top
Black tights
She swings easily on the loops
Of blue silk
To La Vie en Rose
By Edith Piaf

You ease
a fat finger of crab
from its shell
glance up at the Spider Woman

as the music grows louder
As she spins those fantastic shapes above you
Shapes rarely configured by humans

But this doesn’t excite you
No

Only when she slips
Lets go of the blue silk
And tumbles
With a spider’s luck
Into a bowl
Of oyster chowder

Do you nod
A smile of satisfaction
As if you had expected that

You dab your mouth delicately
With a white napkin
Before checking
An incoming text