Narrow-collared snail-eating beetle — it eats spiders too! photo by John F. Williams

A Bug’s Life

by Diane Moser

He scurries across the wall
tiny legs more nimble
than size seven Keds.
Miniscule feelers reach ahead
a reflection of ancestors
who lined up like soldiers in the field,
against life’s odds. I watch him advance
on a crumb left from breakfast toast.
No turning back when life is short
as a minute breath. One crunch of a foot
and he would disappear.
No need for cremation or bugles at burial.
I reach for a glass,
its reflection sends light across the room
then catches him in mid-bite.
I lift him up,
his bug eyes on mine,
then set him outside,
the crumb still clutched in his mouth.

Spiders

by John Fossett

Their 8-legged bodies
crawl in all earthly habitats.
Their spinnerets spew silk
stronger than steel.
Superior vision, strength,
speed and venom-filled fangs
allow them to liquify prey
into smoothies.
Some regenerate limbs,
and a few live communally.
A tiny fraction (0.05%)
can kill an adult human
with just a bite.

Spiders get bad raps
in books and movies.
Arachne, a Greek weaver
who angered a God
was turned into a spider.
A spider scared Miss Muffet
from her curds.
Peter Parker’s powers
came from a spider bite.
Shelob, a demon arachnid,
waited for Hobbits
near Tolkien’s Mordor.
Hagrid’s pet, Acromantula,
could communicate,
but had a taste for human flesh.
And then there’s Charlotte,
who saved her friend
by declaring him
“Some Pig” in her web.

To some, spiders are creepy,
to others, magnificent creatures.
Do spiders deserve
their dark reputation?
Or are these apex predators
that keep the insect population
in check simply misunderstood?

Despite the occasional
full in the face, spiderweb mask,
when walking in my garden,
I am a huge fan!

Learn to be Friends with the Other

by Nancy Fowler

Please keep in mind that we now live on land that for a lot of years was occupied
by Vespula pensylvanica, the western yellow jacket. As a more recent immigrant
to this area, you may be fearful of this species, and sometimes with good reason
for there have been attacks in the past. I’ll talk about that later. But first….

Start by learning of the ways and lives of yellow jackets. They’re hard workers
and totally devoted to their community’s good. These qualities motivate their daily
lives and also, their response to threat, whether real or perceived. You could cause either.
Try to see their point of view. Perhaps a challenge, yet do try.

A roast beef sandwich and a lemonade. An early autumn picnic in the local park
with friends. A plate of chocolate cookies. The frisbee game is finished so you
move toward the table. You shouldn’t be surprised to find a yellow jacket snacking
on the cookies, and the red meat, at the drink cans’ open tabs. You swat.

Reinforcements arrive. You swat again. Wrong move. Each threatened insect
releases pheromones, a call for help, a call for attack, and, if by chance you kill
one, a call to claim the body, bring it home. No, I am not joking. By the way,
you can’t outrun a yellow jacket. They speed at thirty miles per hour. Can you?

Cover your head. Move away slowly. If attacked seek shelter, but never hide
in water. They’ve learned to wait. They’re smart you see. Will wait until
you rise for air. I wish to add some good advice, especially for outside dining
particularly in fall. It’s then they’re most aggressive, as the colonies have reached

their largest size, while food supplies diminish. These workers, barren females all,
now desperate to sustain the next year’s queen, the only one who will survive
from now until new flowers bloom. Then will emerge the pregnant queen, she’ll end
her winter’s hibernation and step into nature’s destiny—she’ll build a nest, birth

first a next generation of workers, later a few males. For months the colony will work
to feed their own and also aid their neighbors, as they eat invasive pests in local gardens
and in farms. Aphids on tomato plants, a single good example. They also clear surrounding ground of rotting carrion. So, leave them be and let them feed the tanagers and falcons, the owls,

raccoons, the dragonflies and others who devour them. And one last thought for you to think, plan your picnic after four. For then they take a needed rest.

Diane Moser lives on the Kitsap Peninsula overlooking the beautiful Olympic Mountains where a lifetime of observation is reflected in her poetry.
She feels words can connect in a time when we need to hear and understand each other. She hopes you find a sense of connection and shared experience in her poetry.

Maddox Hoots is a 10 -year old who lives in Poulsbo, Washington. His love for poetry kicked off when he had a poetry unit in school and has written many poems since then. Some of his other hobbies include playing basketball, reading, and playing video games. This is his first time having a poem be published in a magazine, but he hopes to write more.

John Fossett is a former tugboat skipper, retired reference librarian, life-long gardener, food preserver, cyclist, hiker and berry picker, with an eclectic skill set. He lives with his partner, kids and their rescued dogs in the Pacific Northwest, where he plays guitar, writes poetry and grows veggies and berries, mostly. You can see more of his writing at http://hangingwiththedog.blogspot.com/

Roger Midgett has long been connected to poetry on Bainbridge Island through John Willson’s poetry workshop, Poetry Corners, Exhibition,”Last Poem On Earth: A Jazz Requiem,” and the Return to Creativity awards. He’s a Clinical Social Worker in private practice.

Mary Victoria Dombrowski lives on Bainbridge Island with her husband James. Their three children live within a stone’s throw with their spouses and children. A blessing. Mary splits her time between reading history and theology, tending to business matters, and keeping the house and garden.

Nancy Fowler’s work has been published in Tidepools, Gemini, Songs of the San Joaquin, Naugatauk River Review, Cirque, Porter Gulch Review and other journals. It has been exhibited in Bainbridge Island’s Poetry Corners event, and in the Port Angeles Fine Arts Center’s Poetry in the Park Program, with yearlong displays in the Webster Woods Sculpture Park, and is included in Women in a Golden State, a recent anthology of poetry by women over 60.

Table of Contents, Issue #29, Autumn 2025