Many nights ago we chewed over the saddest words we knew:

                                   almost and maybe.


We almost made it work,
   but maybe it's best left at just that.


You were the best almost I  maybe ever had.

I lay awake thinking
about things I've never
done,
or said,
And now
I see you
laying awake in the cold bed,
alone, scared
and unsure.
I'm here for you,
right beside this bed,
holding your hand.
To show how much
I love you.

1:37 a.m. and your voice
In my ear is distant
Like you're somewhere else

And I grow fearful that
Loving things so simple and
Thinking so plainly
Will bore you

That maybe I'm too little
And too fragile

And soon
you too
will grow tired

Would you hold a tarantula
On your upturned palm
And watch it creep up your arm
While you stayed cool and calm?
 
You might be able to do it,
Or at least be willing to try.
Not for a billion dollars!
No, no, no…not I!
 
In some parts of the world
Tarantulas are a snack.
Could you eat one without
Having a heart attack?
 
They're roasted on a stick
And eaten with gusto and glee.
That might be something you'd like;
It's NOT my cup of tea.
 
Tell me: why do spiders
Send shivers down my spine?
Only some are dangerous;
Most of them are benign.
 
I mean, in CHARLOTTE'S WEB
I have to admit that I cried
When--SPOILER ALERT!--
The poor spider died.
 
Although in my garden they eat
Flies and other critters,
Despite their usefulness,
They STILL give me the jitters.
 
Maybe some spider jokes
Would make them less of an irk:
A spider walked into a bar…
No, that doesn't work.
 
I have to see spiders as simply
Mysterious creatures of nature.
My fears, however, are real
And not about nomenclature.
 
I can try to stay calm
In the future whenever I meet one.
But I can tell you right now:
I'll never HOLD or EAT one!

- by Bob B

in the paper and liked it
it flowed ebbed
had substance
it was a word I had liked from afar
for too long
I decided to out myself
abandon my fear
and confess
my love for it
it was concise compact two letters
it wasn't just mine
to cherish
it was all of ours
it
stood alone