By Ethan Ramm

You are a spider on my window.
Hidden in the daylight.
Everyone sees, everyone knows,
You're a poisonous little creature.
Plain-sight killer; hurtful but weak.
I've always wondered why,
What the point of you is.

And I still think about you and
how I see a life as a stick-to web.
Plainly, I could love you. But
When I look in the mirror,
I see a paralyzed poet,
Who never knew how to write it down.
You don't care as long as I’m distant.

I digress you,
Kissing the dirt because
It somewhat tastes the same.
You're a root in my side that
I just can't pull out.
Since it was the first and
Only ever there.

You left me in a mean city. But
I saw you today when I thought
That I would never again.
With your old haircut and venom skin,
And like an aged house cat I return
To you and your rum twin.
I'll always be a drinker when you're in town.

You are the painful part of nostalgia.
Toxic and rashy cobweb promises,
Living in the back corner of my mind. But
I still can't hate you.
After all this time, I'm still scared of bugs;
I can't bring myself to kill them.

You only think about your next meal.
The next plump plastic fool to feed you.
I saw you today when I thought
That I never would again.
And you didn't even look me in the eye. But
I watched you crawl and slink.

All my life I've been heart drop alone,
And I pray that one day
I'll be given the mercy I gave you.
Letting you live freely through my
Damp-wet brain. Letting you breathe
On my window, plain-sight killer.

Honorable Mention: Ethan Ramm
Marin School of the Arts