The Augury | Ansel Oommen

Sitting by the window sill
All was quiet, all was still
Watched a black widow kill
and ply her craft in the ceiling corner

Weave in, weave out, a bobbing shuttle
proof of death’s defamed rebuttal
administered a stitching subtle
A handkerchief without a mourner

The hand upon the spinning wheel
Feeds the thread a measured deal
No more, no less, no inch to steal
from that that knows no foreigner

Finished full of lace and frill
the handkerchief, an airborne will
moth of cloth, the spider’s fill
what Death had had for dinner

Ansel Oommen is a freelance writer, calligrapher, and book cover designer. His work has been published in a variety of venues including Living Green Magazine, Blueprint, First Things, and NPR’s This I Believe.