Fear came to me with seven legs
scuttling on tile at 10:40 PM
A flurry of brown and then gone

I waited, unsure what I’d seen
This phantom a symptom of
weary eyes and worry?

I stared, vigilant
Every hair tingling
as if tickled by silken thread

The invader remained unseen
When did it creep into my sanctuary
and did it have scurrying friends?

The night wore on
Every corner and crevice
in the dark an ambush

My mind’s eye busied
weaving tapestries of bites
and ballooning purple flesh

Slowly
Deliberately
a shape ascends my wall