Guarding her web that stretches
from the fence
to the clematis
she's no doubt
the largest of her kind
that I have seen

Bright yellow stripes
across her abdomen
otherwise black with long
black legs she's unimpressed
as I step close to snap a photo
with my phone

I've read of spiders
in the Amazon
for whom even a bird is not
too challenging a prey
I'm glad to say
she's not of that imposing size
still nothing I would wish
to tangle with given a choice

Rather I'm happy to concede her claim
to free range of the garden fence
hoping that she
will take up residence
as tutelary spirit
of the flower bed
fierce scourge of flies
and in the fall
mother of hundreds
but for the moment
she is settled jewel-like
centered in her thin-spun finely
woven web