14 Comments
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LeeAnn Pickrell's avatar

This is such a perfect poem. It grabs me at the end there—so true.

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Adam Lombard's avatar

Thank you LeeAnn! I always enjoy hearing which lines connect with readers and other poets. :)

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jennae's avatar

Sometimes it’s so nice to imagine being so tiny and realising that your life would still be so significant. This poem is full of wander, amazing!

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Adam Lombard's avatar

Thank you, Jennae! 🙏

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Tara Connor's avatar

Adam, ever since I first read this one back in February, it has lived in my head and told me to be nicer to spiders. And I am trying.

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Adam Lombard's avatar

🕷️❤️🙏

I'm happy to know one of my poems lives in your head, Tara. I still think about your ekphrastic poem, based on Homer’s Looking Out To Sea! (https://connort.substack.com/p/some-happy-news) So, the experience is mutual.

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Jane McBride's avatar

I like this one :) Reminds me of this tweet from The Crypto Naturalist: "An ant crosses your carpet. A spider weaves a pattern older than mammals beneath your stairs. Just nod, breathe, and think, "Good. It's all still here. The forest, the mountains, the desert. At home in my home. The sterile white box is the stranger. Not the ant. Not the spider."

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Adam Lombard's avatar

This is wonderful, Jane! Thank you for sharing. :)

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David Donoghue's avatar

I loved that last stanza. Real simplicity in your writing that has such power. I always feel there is a huge density in your work and look forward to reading it each time.

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Adam Lombard's avatar

Wow, thanks David! I so appreciate the feedback and the compliment. 🙏

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Lisa Andradez's avatar

I hate spiders, but you might have made me think about them differently!! Your poem is beautiful!

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Adam Lombard's avatar

Thank you, Lisa! I’m glad you enjoyed it. :)

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Pamela's avatar

So very sweet! As I am apparently allergic to the little red spiders when they bite. So far it is not a horrible reaction. Swelling of the muscle and itchy, irritating but not deadly. I do put little creatures outside and tell them the rule is they stay in their corner of the world and I life in mine - Neved the twains shall meet. But unless they are a creep & creature and may have a rougher removal!

Here in the Sonoran desert there are lots of small spiders. They really are not scary. The scary things are the big & small Scorpions….. I guess we live far enough from their homes which get disturbed by humans 😮‍💨 I guess all of these little creatures spiders, bees (allergy with these too) are absolutely fine and everything is relative. Think of how it feels from the perspective of the spider??

I love the story & the poems!

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Adam Lombard's avatar

Thank you Pamela! I'm glad you enjoyed the post. :)

I'm happy to hear I'm not the only one who converses with critters as I carry them outside. Although, I've never lived near scorpions, so I'm not sure what I would say to them. Probably very little — just an awkward, intimidated silence as escorted them back to their domain.

Thanks for reading!

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