the back was still acting up

                             he took umbragedenied body parts that tried to hamper him as not his

his would not fuck with him

   needed a hot early morning bath

                                      the back remained unbending

eventually itd bend

turnedup the tempthe hotwater  endured

                                           closed his eyes as the tub filled

when the water reached his throat he terminated the tap

                                                             it was HOT

then opening his eyes seeing he croakedlaughed gloriously

                                                                      he needed that humour

on the textured ceiling above him seeing by the dawns early light a shimmying black spot

by candlelight the night before

                                    it wasnt there

dusty bunny on speed

                        he didnt think so

   he thought Lets see where this goes

                                          it asif aware it was being watched probably was moved deliberately

it was twoinches in diameter

a healthy spider

                        HELLlo he whispered

it walked upsidedown on the ceiling eighteyeballing him on invisible spunskeins

                                                                                                                 

it bobbed directly above him

he muttered This had better not be a suicide

                                                 he remembered appleseed

three times she tried each time he plucked her up just before she would have gonedown the drain he left her to dry on facial tissues

she tookup spun a web in the corner above the sink diagonally from where his head was when he took a bath

bobbingbouncing along the ceiling it DROPPEDsuddenly  

                                                          fell inches

bungeed rather had a sense of humour

he didnt flinch

              imaginedconceded  this was the perfect time for a spider to fuck with him

cunts back was out on strike without reason

                                               at least without a specific reason one he was able to identify

although  he had been asleep

violated he snapped to

                        MOTHERFUCKER

the back dared Goahead punk Move  I dareya

                                                  Ill fuck you up three ways from Sunday

it had the upper hand

he submitted

   as he said bungeed

                          it reeled back up to the invisible strings bobbled its way towards the center of the ceiling

as he watched he saw a smaller black mark spider   angling towards it

however

             cautiously

he grewup in a white suburb

there were no black children

when he was a high school freshman a white family moved in that adopted a black boy

his name was George Washington he did not take his adoptive parents name

George was the only black kid he knew until he went to city college

it seemed to him then that if another black kid moved to the neighbourhood they and George would naturally gravitate to each other  become friends

senior year albeit briefly another black fella came to high school

there was no attraction no coming together

STUPID

          how many white kids didnt he gravitate towards

Georges picture is beside his in the yearbook

curiously

           he and George Washington were friends

they genuinely liked each other

as genuinely as these two spiders did not

                                            although  he sensed the smaller was male and perhaps feared being eaten by the larger female

he couldnt relate

they went their separate ways on the ceiling

they remained

                spun webs in opposite corners

his back paid them no mind

                              reserved its ire for him

0606,  Thursday,  18  4. 24

0842,  Reggaefriday,  19  4. 24