Fangs

I handle my tarantulas like they will bite me.
At any moment tear fangs into my flesh
slap tendons against bone like weathered rubber bands stretched too thin
and think before they let go.

I handle my tarantulas on the condition that they will bite me.
Allowing their trust in me to develop independent of expectations and tension
lead their own expeditions
and feel me as I am.

I handle my tarantulas for physical touch.
Always curious if I could handle a human the same, exposing my soul
like a fresh tear through flesh lowered in ocean water 
and handle them like they will bite me.

Kelcey Davis is a physics student and an avid tarantula keeper. This is her first published poetry.