Alf

There’s a tiny spider

Crawling across this verse

I think its critiquing my work

I have named the spider Alf

He appears to dislike words

Bigger than six letters

Alf seems to be inspecting this poem

Like a safety officer testing a fire bell

He also walks up and down the verse

As if he’s checking locked doors

He pauses at commas and full stops

Maybe he thinks they are traffic lights

Alf has no compass or SatNav

But he knows his way around this poem

He has an uncanny habit

Of staying much longer

On the word Alf.

©JMN 2023