Listen to the world’s best poetry read out loud.

ef a ketch im
a mash im
ef a ketch im
a mash im
ef a ketch im…

Will you walk into my parlour
Said the spider to the fly
It’s the prettiest snugliest parlour
That ever you did spy… And I
the fly
inspecting your web
this skein now then that
put my microscope eye
through its intricate weave
saw valleys of cloud
blue and serene
saw acres of grass
sheltered and green.
Ephemeral and light
I rested my life
and dazzled
I watched
you wove me inside
and dazzled
I slept
my crysalis sleep…

* * *

I woke up inside
no more dazzled and green.
Awake and alert
unfolding my wings
I stretched
But your skeins
not delicate now
resistant and strong
they wove me inside
I am trapped
I can’t move
I can’t butterfly
fly

And you
perched outside
your eyes large and clear
you see acres of green
you see valleys of cloud
you can move
you can fly…
Now I look through the web
I look into the void
I see numberless flies
training microscope eyes
through intricate weave
ANANSI I cry
ANANSI-SI-SI I hear
the sky is too vast
how it scatters my cry
the sky is too clear
it hides my despair
they can’t hear
they can’t see
with their microscope eye…

ef a ketch im
a mash im
ef a ketch im
a mash im

A ketch im… im… im