A Spider Poem

Cucumber Green Spider, Araniella cucurbitina

What the world needs now is another poem from me - and its no good whining about the Geneva Convention. This one gave me a strange feeling when I re-read it - even though it is barely a poem, but a verse.   And hardly a brilliant one at that.

But it is a moment from the past - when my bro was a post-grad student in Bath sharing a flat with the lovely Judy - a friend, not a romantic relationship, they both had other partners.  He is now an Australian, a father of a student.  We are no longer young, no longer expat, but live in retirement on the South Coast.

Wasp Spider, Argiope bruennichi

What happened to the spider I don't know. I hope it lived a long and happy life and has many great great great great grandchildren. But somewhere we must have its photograph.  Especially as it got a first.

Those were the days of Bruce and the Camera Club too.  I learnt a lot from listening to him judging the entries.   He died many years ago.

I feel rather sad today - an Autumnal kind of sadness.

AVONDALE ROAD

by me

The spider guard to Judy’s plum tree

 Nearly caught me

 However tables neatly turned

 For Colin caught it in his hand

 It was lifted, turned, and photographed

 Exultantly our Colin laughed

 “This photograph, it will be good.”

 And sure enough, it got a first

 At the Dhahran Expat’s Camera Club.

And today ended on an oddly appropriate note, at Graeme Lyon's talk on Rewilding at the University of Sussex.   He had some great and scary spider photos too, as one result of rewilding is to bring back many little creatures that have become endangered.

It is a good 50 years since I was last sitting in a Uni Lecture Theatre.  The late afternoon light seemed Autumnal, even though Spring is on the way.