Mi Amigo
We’re at the rental place at the beach.
3 AM I’m up reading
waiting for the pain pills to kick in
(back legs shoulders arms from fighting
the waves and the woods)
when I notice a giant spider crawling
across the ceiling heading our way.
Normally I capture
these hairy guys release them outside
where they belong but too much
brouhaha for this time of night
would wake my exhausted wife.
So I stealthily (with great stealth)
swat the thing down
with a throw pillow but now
I can’t find it. WTF!
I move the nightstand there he is!
Clobber him into 10 pieces with my shoe.
Mission accomplished! Now back to sleep.
The Devil, who I hadn’t noticed
has been watching me with that stupid
I-just-planted-a-spider-in-your-room grin
exclaims “Well done mi amigo”
and poof he’s gone again, bastard.
Michael Estabrook has been publishing his poetry in the small press since the 1980s. Hopefully with each passing decade the poems have become more clear and concise, succinct and precise, more appealing and “universal.” He has published over 20 collections, a recent one being Bouncy House, edited by Larry Fagin (Green Zone Editions, 2014).