spiders and mercy

Source

Allowables

by Nikki Giovanni

I killed a spider
Not a murderous brown recluse
Nor even a black widow
And if the truth were told this
Was only a small
Sort of papery spider
Who should have run
When I picked up the book
But she didn't
And she scared me
And I smashed her

I don't think
I'm allowed

To kill something

Because I am

Frightened

Mercy

after Nikki Giovanni

by Rudy Francisco

She asks me to kill the spider.
Instead I get the most
peaceful weapons I can find.

I take a cup and a napkin.
I catch the spider, put it outside,
and watch it walk away.

If I am ever caught in the wrong place
at the wrong time, just being alive
and not bothering anyone,

I hope I am greeted
with the same kind
of mercy.