Exhibitions > Return: Prints and Stitched Works

Benign Love

when Evan & I come back from our
walk this morning,
everyone says there's something we
have to see -

a black widow in a mason jar
her round black belly
marked with scarlet hearts

Jada & Andrew found her in
the bed we'd shared
while changing the sheets on
their rounds this morning

it feels unfair to let her die in the jar
her bite wouldn't have killed us, but it
is powerful poison indeed

I wonder,
had she been nestled in our blankets
all night long?
had we been spared her bite
by the power of our own benevolence
towards one another?

was it benign indifference,
or benign love?