Eulogy for a Garden Spider

She was more swift and patient than anyone I have known
Waiting in her beautifully patterned home
The most striking yellow on her back
Not to warn
But to invite the admiration of the world
She wrote in a language I will never be able to read
And her movement upon her web brought tears to my eyes
A helper in the garden
We shared a space of growth
A plot for the cycle of life
Yet fear still grips us when things seen are not understood
And children learn to hurt what they can’t understand
What they were told to fear
What was screamed into their minds
But now she is no longer here to be feared
No longer living as she was
A teacher
A sister
A mystic
A creature with the wisdom of the earth in her