Certainty
by Elaine Barker
If I had told you
about the spider-web
which bridged the space
between two small branches
on the Prunus pissardi
I’d come upon
that cold morning
on the path across the garden
and if I’d spoken of its spare mystery,
the threads strung from its bridge line,
each silk strand spun with dewdrops,
each glistening sharp and fine,
that web would have drawn you in
and you would have marvelled
at its mathematical precision,
the clarity of design,
and would have pictured it
like an unspoken whisper
and carried it with you
as I have done.