Daisy Chains {Completed}

Watching a Spider Drown In My Sink

After a warm shower, I cross over to the bathroom mirror, noticing a skinny brown arachnid crawling out of the sink's drain. He stops, noticing my eyes are fatefully pointed in his direction. A chord snaps within both of us. Without second thought, my hands fly to the handle, showering a hurricane of hot water over him. His legs writhe in pain as he topples over, onto his back. The tiny insect manages to set himself right-side up before collapsing in defeat. I stare at his waterlogged corpse, wondering if I should pluck him out with a paper towel, throwing him in the garbage, or just flush his cadaver down the drain. 

But the more I gaze, the guiltier I become. 

Maybe this itsy-bitsy spider had to break boundries to get here

Crossing barriers and jumping border lines

Saying goodbye to loved ones, holding the urge to cry and scraping his skinny knees

Just to climb up a dark, dank drain

Finding a better life where the rain wouldn't contaminate

Milestones of raising a family and living life in simple comfort

An American Dream of love and luster

Opportunities to reach all because he

was an immigrant who spent days seeking the way

To prove this world is more than disappointment and danger

Maybe he died a starry-eyed teenager.

I washed him out with no cloud of rational doubt 

My brain silently screaming, "ALIEN SCUM!" 

Without a filter and after filtering him out of existence

I wish a resistance in me could've stopped my hands from pulling a damn lever.

Although fluorescent, he had just seen the light for the first time in days

Got a momentary taste of the new world before I scheduled his deportation 

Bite-sized yet unconscious discrimination

All because of his uncomfortable differences. 

Suddenly, I notice my countless privileges.

So when I pull the lever a second time, sending him down the drain from whence he came, I realize the only thing illegal about this situation was the lack of compassion I showered him with.