spider-self
- Shai Smith
- 17 hours ago
- 2 min read

i slept in comfort laced in thread
a whisper wrapping ’round my head
i laughed it off, said i’m just fine
while it coiled slow down my spine
thread on my tongue, i bit down hard
it tasted like truth burned and charred
i tied each limb with silent screams
and told myself they were just dreams
i stitched denial into my skin
tight enough to feel like sin
but now the silk begins to squeeze
and the crawling thing inside is me
i want to claw out of my skin
burn the web i’m buried in
every breath’s a choking thread
pull me tighter, leave me dead
the spider sinks its teeth to feed
and eat the fear out of me
i did this to me
i scratched until the blood ran red
but all it did was paint the web
i shook, i begged, i made a sound
but no one hears you underground
it’s not a monster in the dark
it’s me with every selfmade mark
i am the legs that crawl and cling
i am the fang, the silken sting
i kiss the poison every night
tuck myself in venom tight
i spin, i scream, i let it be
the thing that’s killing me is me
i want to crawl out of my skin
set fire to the shape i’m in
rip the web from throat to bone
but i’m the trap, i wove alone
the spider smiles, it’s always been
the voice i buried deep within
i did this to me
strip me down to nothing left
etch regret across my chest
bury me beneath my threads
make me feel the shit i said
tie me down and call it grace
i wear the web like it’s my face
call it comfort, call it fate,
either way, it ends in hate
i want to crawl out of my skin
feel the purge begin again
dig the spider out from me
break the mirror, set it free
but every shard just shows the same
my voice. my face. my fucking name.
i did this to me
…the spider’s me.
im over it
04/14/2025
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