Tonight I walked down the steps
past the railing
past the fountain
past the garden
and by a tree near the end of the yard
I walked into a spider’s web
I batted the web away from my face
away from my hair
and in a window across the street
a curtain parted
I must have looked like a crazy thing
batting and pawing away at the air
the web was gone but I could still feel it
like a man who loses a leg can still feel it
I kept batting away like a crazy thing
I was sure it was there and I knew that it wasn’t
across the street the curtain closed
I thought I heard laughter and knew that I didn’t
I wondered how many
I’ve walked into
and if spiders still feel it when they lose a web.