Two Hangings from Ovid

It is Hermes stepping off his winged sandal.

... I saw the Writing Spider sitting with aplomb

Even his caduceus, despite the scandal

dead center her creation, above the compost

of its forfeiture, lies abandoned

(sage location); what I wondered most

like an Android or iPad on a nightstand

was whether the sweetgum burrs and dried leaves

grown footed for the purpose of bearing away

were ornaments or accidents she interweaves

any such device or gadget as may

in the clearly golden silk, whose subwebs

distract him from a more pressing matter.

are occupied by diminutive male sub-celebs

Herse is perched on the precipice of the mattress

holding down the fort (as she holds court)

with its luxurious bedspread, where tapestry

long after she vanishes, stopping short

vis-à-vis itself interleaves the allegory.

of the epiphany or apotheosis

Real gold thread weighs the covers

we expect from genteel arts, or a goddess

a cherub heaves to turn down for the lovers.

“Who thereupon did rende the cloth in pieces every whit,

Would that the same in his wings might tip the scales,

Bicause the lewdnesse of the Gods was biased so in it.

and with tears, put salt in these mythical tales

And with an Arras weavers combe of Box she fiercely smit

by sinking level with us l’enfant in the room ...

Arachne on the forehead full a dozen times and more.”