Dew Drops on a Spider’s Web – Kay Stewart Photography
This spider’s web, covered with early morning dew – a natural miracle nearly invisible to the naked eye – was in the corner of a flower box on our deck. Kay, whose camera is always nosing around for the things we do not see, took this photograph. The poem was inspired by the smallness I felt – the beauty of smallness – seen in the magnificence if a spider’s web in morning light and in e. e. cummings’ poem “who are you, little i”.
“A Lightness of Being” – Gordon C. Stewart
who are you, little i, sitting above
the world so high (e. e. cummins)
on the high perch home
hammers and saws have made
on land filled and leveled by
bulldozers and gas-guzzling graders?
then i see it in the morning sun
the all-but-imperceptible home
spun from inside a spider self,
wet with drops strung like beads
so small, so delicate, so light
they leave the spider’s home intact,
a natural grace respecting strength
and weakness – a lightness of being
that does not crush or break
this hidden part – this most amazing part –
of a larger Web of life we barely see
Views from the Edge 
Great to continue reading the creative thoughts from your mind. Don
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That’s an old one, Don. How did it come to your attention after all this time? Thank you for the encouragement.
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very nice 🙂
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Kay Stewart’s photograph is just glorious, and the poem you wrote in homage to both Cummings and Kay Stewart’s image is beautifully rendered.
This line (and half of the next line) amazed me—
a lightness of being that does not crush or break/this hidden part
What a great, great, great way to begin Friday! Thank you, and thanks to Kay Stewart! Beautiful work, both of you!
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I agree – the photograph is spectacular. Who else would have thought to look? Kay has a wonderful eye. BTW, she has a new blog, http://www.rawgrief.com that’s just getting started.
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Photographing spiderwebs is technically hard because at certain angles, they disappear entirely. Yet, K.S. managed to not only capture a spiderweb, but give it unexpected emotional substance. (!)
I just went over to her blog and added her. I’m happy she’s blogging; I think she’ll find a good, strong community here and everywhere.
One more thing— you did such a good job with utilizing the Cummings style here. Really and truly.
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Courtenay, That’s pretty high praise…but I’ll take the encouragement. I know Kay will, too. THANKS SO MUCH!
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Your poem was so fabulous I mistook it for a continuation of e.e. cummings. Keep writing them! It was like a dew drop to a thirsty spider!
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I love e.e. cummings – “Christ came down from his bare this year to where no….” He’s one of a kind. The “who are you little i” has stuck with me as a sidekick since I first read it. Each of us is a very little i in a whacky world that feeds the illusion of “BIG I”
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What a spectacular photo, and what a great poem. I guess I am starved for some e.e. cummings as well. We used to have a huge web by our front door- a monkey spider web, with a huge spider-mama residing in it, ever building it anew when it was bumped into, and laying her eggs, and populating our front deck with many little monkey spiders. We very much admired her web and her company. There is nothing more magical than a newly spun web. How do they do it?
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Indeed. “How do they do it?” Did you know that NASA sent spiders into space as an experiment to see whether they would adapt without gravity. They DID, although they died in the mission. BAD mission. GOOD spiders!
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You are so good at opening our eyes with your blogs and other writings. Now this reminder of the things we pass over. Thanks. (p.s. I’m choosing to have a good day.)
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Good choice!
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I have a penchant for spiders. Very cool.
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Me, too, Anansi. Thanks for coming by.
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Anansi, What do you like about spiders?
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