Rattlesnake
by Richard Hugo
I found him sleepy in the heat
And dust of a gopher burrow,
Coiled in loose folds upon silence
In a pit of the noonday hillside.
I saw the wedged bulge
Of the head hard as a fist,
I remembered his delicate ways:
The mouth a cat's mouth yawning.
I crushed him deep in dust,
And heard the loud seethe of life
In the dead beads of the tail
Fade, as wind fades
From the wild grain of the hill.
Spider
by Beverly Smith
I found him in my bathroom
trapped in the tub
silently climbing the walls
patiently attempting to escape.
I saw his large hard head
legs splayed out up the side.
I observed his helpless struggle,
like a baby learning to walk.
I squished him with my shoe
And felt his life crunch.
His legs curled and ceased to move.
I fished him out with a rag
And flushed him down the john.
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