Arachne

juliette givhan

 

I killed another of your children this morning,

sprayed him with Lysol

(orange blossom scented,)

& watched him fall from a web

hung carelessly close to my mirror.

 

If it’s any consolation—

his body missed the toilet,

crashed to the dirty tile instead.

 

His legs did a death dance

as he choked, all those digits

mad with movement

in their last moments…

 

I’m sorry

 

but trust me, I get the irony

of a Black girl killing something

harmless, just because she’s afraid

of what it might do—

 

know the lack of consequence

for wiping out something

people have decided is a monster.

 

 

***

 

Juliette Givhan is a Black poet who writes about myths and memes. Her work appears in ANMLY Magazine, Change Seven Magazine, Two Hawks Quarterly, with forthcoming poems in Pidgeonholes Magazine and baest Journal.