SPIDER VENOM

I walk through a present 

Saturated with the past 

It falls off me in folds

Thick with memory 

The most important thing is that

I keep moving

To escape

The cobwebbed genius of what was

Paralysis of spider venom 

Awaiting the stationary self

I am determined to go on 

That the past will not hold sway

Seductive though it is

Its dreamy numbness, anaesthetic 

Sharp painful present 

The price of living