In a Poetry Foundation podcast focused on the poetry of Keats Conley (“Bird in a Drawer,” December 7, 2021), Ms. Conley talks about the daddy long legs spider, also called the Harvestman, then reads a poem she wrote about it. *
I like some of Conley’s poems, and while I enjoyed listening to the podcast, my brain had already been exploring the possibilities of a daddy long legs poem, and I found myself a little disappointed in hers—not that there was anything wrong with hers, but it didn’t go anywhere near where I was going.
Mine started with the thought that every 10 days a harvestman spider cracks and emerges from his shell, pulling his legs free.
Maybe mine is no better than hers, but I had to give it a whirl and dance with the Harvestman.
The Harvestman
All week,
he stalks the yard on stilts,
chewing on the dead,
dropping in on the unsuspecting,
who gasp,
then laugh at all legs and tiny body,
until he lifts them high,
invites them up for dinner,
closer for a bite.
All week,
he gathers with his brothers
to dance and tremble with the wind,
trading stories of
hilarious pulled faces,
the screams of mothers
not amused by Johnny’s new pet
climbing up his arm,
or tales of great escape
and the limbs they have left behind.
But in the quiet moments
of his weekend,
he splits and
pulls each calf free,
emerging naked
from pants outgrown,
hardening into his new shell
as any other,
one leg at a time.
______________
* The podcast website provides a text transcription where you can read Ms. Conley’s poem, “The God of Daddy Long Legs.” The transcription does not, however, show her line or stanza breaks.
| Copyright © 2022 by Maik Strosahl Michael E. Strosahl has focused on poetry for over twenty years, during which time he served a term as President of the Poetry Society of Indiana. He relocated to Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2018 and currently co-hosts a writers group there. |
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