I should have known.
She silked the room,
entered with swishing skirts.
Eye-lashed me
in that coquettish way.
Wove words into delights.
Spinning wheeled me,
unlike any woman I’d ever known.
I could not escape her wiles.
I skeined under her spell.
First hands, then arms,
then eyes, then heart.
My senses spooled as one,
tautly captured in her clutches.
She left me,
forever specimened.
Pushpinned my veins
until I was but a dried shell.
Once a vibrant man,
now locked in despair.
I shall never love again.
Written for Meet the Bar at dVerse, the virtual pub for poets from around the globe. Today, Bjorn asks us to “verbify” in our poem. That is, to use a noun, or several, as verbs in our poem. Photo taken a number of years ago at Ricoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.
lillian the home poet 
Oh… what a skillful spider-woman, and the title is so clever. I wonder how man men she has drained… maybe she is a black widow,
Silked is a perfect verb I think
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Glad you enjoyed, Bjorn! I had fun with this one.
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Wonderful!
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Thank you!
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Great poem Lillian. My wife is a fiberartist, one of her skills is weaving. She git a kick out of this piece as well. 🙂
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Glad you shared. And I remembered this photo from our trip several years ago….creepy as it is thought it went with the post 🙂 PS: I do dislike spiders!
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As you may remember, Lill, I think spiders are beautiful and interesting, and much maligned. I especially loved the verbified ‘silked’ and ‘eye-lashed’. Arachne was a beguiling woman, and you’ve conveyed that in these lines:
‘My senses spooled as one,
tautly captured in her clutches’.
I like that you wrote from the point of view of a man.
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I dislike spiders….but only the fuzzy ones. Otherwise, I know they take care of other insects and sometimes, when the sun catches their webs, it’s amazing to me how intricate they are!
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Lillian you knocked this one out of the park. Such vivid imagery and metaphor. There are myths about such creatures through the generations…
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Glad you enjoyed!
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WOW! I’m blown away and intrigued by the imagery you’ve created here. It is beautiful and I’m in awe. You’ve webbed such intricate images in a heartbreaking tale; it is mesmerizing and captivating.
“Eye-lashed me
in that coquettish way…”
This is genius by the way. Excellent verbing!
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Lucy, you are too kind! So glad you enjoyed it. I had fun with this one. 🙂
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Wonderful, unique and special❣️❣️🌹
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Thank you!
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Kiss of the spider woman indeed. I liked the masculine POV. This is masterful work, your verbifying is seamless, just part of the clever word weave. I went with humor; perhaps the easy way out.
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Lots of fun, Lillian – I especially liked “eye-lashing” and “specimened” – well woven.
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what an absolutely delightful web of words woven in with love … love all the weaving sewing references!
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Sad on the ending but she must have been something else. I specially adore the verbing on this part:
She left me,
forever specimened.
Pushpinned my veins
until I was but a dried shell.
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Oh wow! This is wonderful!
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Hard to say I like anything this spidery, Lillian, but, um,,,Yes, I’m loving it!
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I’m with kim on the spider issue 😉 And this is just gorgeous! You are an excellent verber.
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kaykuala
Once a vibrant man,
now locked in despair.
I shall never love again.
Quite a tragedy if caught in such a dilemma. It is not uncommon to be in such a situation though. Wonderful lines Lillian!
Hank
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‘she left me forever specimened’ —I like that!
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A powerful write, a great response to the prompt! ✨
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Oh the cunning spider! Wonderful!
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Oh, your image just makes the poem come alive. Slow entanglements are very hard to recover from! Well done.
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I guess I have just been spidered. Enjoyed this, in particular “specimened”, that’s one worth coin-ing!
JIM
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A delight to read, Lillian. I loved,
“Pushpinned my veins
until I was but a dried shell.”
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A wonderful poem! ☺️ Really enjoyed reading it..❣️😇😇😇
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