Seven-legged spider stirs from death.
What ancient knowledge lies writ
in the ancient lobster-cousin brain?
The child holds the severed leg to ear
like a phone receiver and hears nothing,
not even the infant babel recently quit.
The spider's ancestor by instinct knew webs
when the child's ancestor hadn't discovered flame,
cold nights in mastodon furs, shadowless,
when tooth and claw ruled.
