Lotus: Another Poem, I Think

CHARACTERS
A
B
TIME
Now.
PLACE
Nature.

(Curtains Up. Stage is empty except for A and B who sit on crates, toss cards into a hat and eat from a bushel of apples.)

A: Almost got bitten by a black widow yesterday.
B: Hmm.
A: Yeah, I was working on the new screen door, so I go into the garage, to get a Phillips, you know, and the thing just jumps onto my goddamned finger like it owned it.
B: Did you kill it?
A: No.
B: Really?
A: Yeah, I just felt it wasn’t right.
B: It could’ve killed you.
A (Scoffs): In about two hours it could’ve.
B: They’re deadly. That’s the thing. It’s dangerous in principle.
A: I could’ve been bitten by worse things. Damn cobra. Violin spider. Potato bug. Scorpion. You know. Harsher fuckers. Fire ants.
B: Venom is venom… So what did you do?
A: Well I wasn’t really angry, you know… I guess I was kind of scared. I was more offended if you want to know the truth.
B: I would be too.
A: I’m trying to mind my own business, trying to better my life through so craftsmanship and this arthropod just moves in on my territory.
B: I would’ve squashed it. Like Samsa. Smart thing to do.
A: Don’t think I wasn’t poised—I was so fucking close to taking him out and spilling the venom onto my palm.
B:…
A: I had a cut on my hand—still an open wound, so that sort of stopped me.
B: Huh.
A: So I let it sit there for a while. I stood in front of the shelf for about five minutes with the spider on my hand, and the fucker starts to build a web.
B: Cocky little bastard.
A: So, you’d think I’d be irritated, but I really didn’t mind it. I was kind of flattered, actually. To be so in tuned with this creature that posed no immediate threat, and to participate in such a creative process.
B: So you sat down.
A: Right. Spent half the night with it, catching moths.
B: Success?
A: You wouldn’t have believed it. The kid knew what he was doing.
B: Never scared?
A: Figured if the cigarettes and asbestos weren’t going to kill me any time soon, what harm would this do? So It’s about one in the morning, and she comes into the garage, asks what the hell I’m doing.
B: She sees the spider.
A: And freaks out. “Get it off! Get it off! What the hell is the matter with you?” So to placate her, I peel off the web and put the little guy down, next to me. It was windy. Then she squishes him.
B: Bitch.
A: I mean, it would be understandable if it was an earwig or some Marian Apparition, but what the hell was up with this?
B: I assume this is why we’re dumping Lysol into the gardenias.
A: I’m not going to be passive about this.
B: Right, you’ve gotta stand up for those who can’t speak.
A: I’m doing it for Ellie.
B: Ellie?
A: (Brings his two index fingers together)This close to Inner Peace, man. This. Fucking. Close.

(Blackout.)