Immortality of the Spider
The ebony body of the widow is centered
along the axis of her vermilion hourglass.
Her venom, more toxic than powdered cinnabar.
She beguiles the diminutive unwary male
with her lithesome legs and a promising
opportunity to recapitulate phylogeny.
Overcome with an instinctive lust
to manifest his genetic mark for eternity
he acquiesces and mates the madame of macabre.
Showing his cards
as she gazes on the abyss
with a smile that’s not so much cruel
as organized.
Her darkness sourced from space code
from a forum of scattered spice dressed as stars
from a column of writhing forms
shooting up a lattice
dressed as Time’s ribbons.
His genetic code will propitiate perpetually,
even with the end of endless space
and the freezing of a frozen time.
He will be cannibalized, but she will
have always been, and she will always be.
No beginning no end, just an end-less
cycle of existing—and his genetic code
will go on, and on, and on for infinity.
Daniel G. Snethen grew up on a farm & ranch in south-central South Dakota. Here, he gained a great appreciation for all living things. Snethen holds an M.S. degree in Zoology and his B.A. in biological education. Dan has spent the past thirty years teaching science, coaching oral interpretation of literature and directing plays on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation at Little Wound School in Kyle, SD. Snethen directed the romantic comedy Mallard’s Road, which can be streamed on Tubi. Daniel writes poetry and short-story fiction. Among his pets, past and present, are kangaroo rats, desert wood rats, scorpions, rattlesnakes, ferrets, tarantulas, hawks and of course dogs. His favorite piece of literature is Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner. Snethen has had many an odd encounter: including being sprayed by skunks, being stung by a scorpion and bitten by a pocket gopher. Daniel claims there should be no taboos when it comes to writing and the best writing comes from experience. Write what you know, even when writing fiction—infuse it with partial truths and the reader will be able to suspend disbelief. Snethen is the current vice-president of the South Dakota State Poetry Society and one of the former editors of their biannual poetry journal Pasque Petals.
Dubbed “The Baudelaire of our time” by John Shirley, primary screenwriter of THE CROW (1994), Alex S Johnson aka Kandy Fontaine has served as a secretary to the stars, collaborated with Tom Sullivan (New York Times bestselling author of IF YOU COULD SEE WHAT I HEAR), been platformed by R.U. Sirius (Mondo 2000 magazine featuring William S Burroughs), archived at The Widener Library (Harvard University) as well as being a Special Guest with Pickles (Alea Celeste Williams) on the Maggiore On Bowie Show. He has published under Nocturnicorn Books work by Caitlin R Kiernan, Kari Lee Krome, Poppy Z Brite, Jarboe, David J Haskins, Carmilla Voiez, Cristina Deptula, Anna Taborska and Lasara Firefox Allen and has read alongside icons such as Ellyn Maybe, Danielle Willis, Richard Modiano, K.R. Morrison, Marc Olmsted, Tricia Warden and Iris Berry. His hundreds of short stories, essays, poems, and articles have also garnered rave reviews from the likes of World Fantasy Award finalist Anna Tambour (“A poet even when writing prose”), Lambda Literary Award-winning author Jan Steckel (“a master of the pathetic fallacy”), and Hannah Breschard, cult author, journalist and David Bowie collaborator, who saluted him as “a legend.” Johnson runs Nocturnicorn Books from his home in Carmichael, California.