Tonight I walked down the steps

past the railing

 

past the fountain

past the garden

 

and by a tree near the end of the yard

I walked into a spider’s web

 

I batted the web away from my face

away from my hair

 

and in a window across the street 

a curtain parted

 

I must have looked like a crazy thing  

batting and pawing away at the air

 

the web was gone but I could still feel it

like a man who loses a leg can still feel it

 

I kept batting away like a crazy thing

I was sure it was there and I knew that it wasn’t 

 

across the street the curtain closed

I thought I heard laughter and knew that I didn’t 

 

I wondered how many

I’ve walked into

 

and if spiders still feel it when they lose a web.