It’s Friday! And you know what that means: Poetry! Want to know more about Poetry Friday? Click this link right here. And be sure to check Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone to see this week’s round up of wonderful poetry related posts, blogs and goodness. 

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Hello and Happy Poetry Friday! It has been 9 long months since I have participated. Last time, I was in the middle of my yearly Poemtober Challenge and I’m not quite sure what happened. I’d like to say I was abducted by aliens, or had to drop everything to do some huge paranormal investigation, but I think that time and life just got away from me. I’ve been itching to get back into the swing of things for a bit, but then I blink and another 2 months have gone by without posting.

No new poetry from me this week, but I wanted to take the time to say thank you to Tabatha. Despite me dropping off the planet, she reached out to see if I wanted to participate in her summer poetry swap. And then she gently reminded me when the sign ups to host Poetry Friday were up and I was able to sign up for later this month! So thank you, Tabatha, for helping me keep a toe in the water.

Speaking of the Summer Poetry Swap, I have two AMAZING poems to share. I am still a bit behind on sending my last ones, but to those still waiting for one from me–know they will be in the mail this weekend!

The first swap I received was from Tabatha. She knows my love of corvids and Edgar Allen Poe and she combined them into a timely poem about all the cicadas that hatched this summer. I do miss the sound of the cicadas as we don’t really get them here in Florida. From what I can tell, it was a crazy brood this year.

Crow’s Broody Breakfast, June 2021
by Tabatha Yeatts

Once upon a morning cheery,
as I opened eyes quite bleary,
I heard a feathered flapping coming to my kitchen door.

Raspy croaks and loud caws reached me,
through the silence they beseeched me —
The time had come to furnish crow treats once more.

“Do not give me carrots,
in my view they have no merits,
And I scoff at the raspberries you adore,

At you I will bite my thumbs,
if you dare to give me plumbs —
give me grapes and oatcakes, I implore!”

While I washed the purple spheres
that the crow held so dear,
a clumsy cicada kept him from growing bored.

The crow held the creature in his beak —
Its future looked quite bleak —
In one gulping motions, the cicada was done for.

I could not help but complain,
perhaps he could explain —
Why screech for treats when surrounded by snacks galore?

The crow solemnly cocked his head,
fluffed his feathers and said, “More! More!”
© Tabatha Yeatts, 2021

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The next swap I received was from Linda M. I was so incredibly touched by her thoughtfulness in putting together the swap. I actually squealed with delight, which brought my kids running. They were equally excited at the little magnetic skeleton. I placed him in the hallway–below the artichoke poem I received from Jone in a swap a few years ago–so we pass the skeleton multiple times a day and we have all had lots of fun repositioning the little guy.

Linda also included a very Becky-themed-collaged card to put her poem in, which was so neat!

Her poem is spider themed and was perfect. We actually have a juvenile tarantula that we haven’t named yet, so my family used Linda’s poem to help us choose the name. You can see what we chose and a picture below Linda’s poem.

The Naming of Tarantulas
After T.S. Eliot’s The Naming of Cats
by Linda M., 2021

Tarantula naming is a touchy business,
It’s not All Hallows fun and games;
You may be some suspicious–
But, I tell you, a tarantula must have
EIGHT different names!

First, there’s the name dear Mother gives
as father’s digested for dinner,
pet names such as Fuzzy and Wuzzy, and Sue
All of them, perfectly easy to coo.

And, nicknames for school, eight-days-a-week
Climber, Sandy and, Dusty
big in the hairiest of arachnicliques.

Night names are earned after hunting success
Fang, Terminator…Lizard Skynard
And, the popular, Anything but Late-for-Dinner.

Day names can be sleepier, sweepier…
as in Dozer, Snore-slug and Wheezer.

Classic monikers ebb and flow,
as does Ms. Arachnes, Ms. Aranea, Mr. Rango

Shocked humans shout out cursed names.
in which case $#!&)! or @&^#+# is fine

But, bona fide, arachnophiles assign
Crazy-Legs, Mr. Wiggles or Clementine
to their BFF and hairy friends

Tarantulas know from their earliest days
there’s only one name that’s the best of the eight
It’s a name we’ll never know
It’s what they shout as they hatch from the egg
What they’ve known since being knee-high on your leg

It’s scientifically sound, please don’t wait to call your tarantula…
Lasiodora parahybana Theraphosidae Animalia Arthropoda Chelicerata!
© Linda Mitchell, 2021

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We used to have a Lasiodora Parahybana (Brazilian Salmon Pink Bird-eating tarantula) named Pennywise. He got HUGE.

When I first got Pennywise, he could fit on my thumbnail. But once he was fully grown, I determined from his pedipalps that he was male. Unlike females, which will live for years after maturing, males often stop eating and spend the rest of their short life roaming their cage in search for a mate. So, I found a local spider breeder who had a female Lasiodora and traded my big guy for a new spider sling. I’m glad that Pennywise was able to find a mate in the end!

Our new T is a Chaco Golden Knee (Grammostola pulchripes). I am willing it to be female, but I won’t know for awhile yet. We used Linda’s poem to pick her name…meet Ms. Aranea! The first picture is from when we first got her and the 2nd is just a few days ago.

She will get about twice this size, but not nearly as big as Pennywise. She is also very docile. I wanted a species that was easy to handle, as my kids are getting a little older and their friends are always curious. I wanted one that I could pull out and they could hold, if they would like. Hooray for unusual pets!