some immense cruelty

With horror,
I plucked a black cricket
from the grass, closed over
it gently until, in some odd comfort
it ceased to thrash and settled
into my palm. I walked, silent
to the maple tree where, given
the width of the funnel, I knew
the spider was large, the tarp
of its web tethered to brown
and brittle stalks.

Image: NASA on Unsplash