Silent Talisman

My ever watchful dusky guardian.

Dark webbing like grout in a cathedral window

stretches rigid from bow to bow of leather-wrapped iris.

Jewels and feathers pour like tears from fine string lattices.

Demons and specters struggle to be free of my spider’s silky net,

only to be tied more tightly until the morning sets them scrambling

back into the daylight where their wings will tear and eyes will burn.