Spider-Bit

I got spider-bit.
She tagged me
Close to a vein.
Her venom nearly
Went to my heart
But stopped short.

Her poison was enough

To complicate matters
And leave a talisman
Reminding me 
How close I came
To sorrow.

She left a bloody blister

That I regularly attack
With the blade
Of a knife I secret
At my bedside.

For a time my blood

Will flow.

Crimson will stream my flesh
To be staunched
By pressure and bandage.

I’ve been spider-bit before.

They all left
A souvenir
Of their silent visitations
But my knife only slices
The one most recent.
All others remain scars.

If you think

I am referring merely to an  
Inconsequential
Spider bite…

....Well
Dear Reader….

...You have never
Loved a woman.