A female orb-weaver spider builds her web before sunrise, laying down anchor threads, frame threads, a bridge thread, and the radii that meet at a central hub. Then she rests, ready to wait. The speaker watches with a naturalist’s detachment and a note of awe: to a lacewing’s eyes, this spider is all-powerful. She doesn’t eat the ripe blackberries herself; she uses them as bait, since the fruit attracts fruit flies and similar insects. A ladybird beetle arrives hunting the same prey, gets caught in the web, fights back, and is wrapped up and killed. Nothing is wasted. Any protein she catches will feed her eggs. The mood is cool and matter-of-fact, almost documentary-like. Death is not tragic here—it is simply the fuel that lets her produce new life.
She Has Work to Do — Summary
She has work to do, establishing Her anchor threads, her frame threads, Even her bridge thread and all her radii, Hub to be ready by dawn, herself resting --
All-powerful, so far as any lacewing can See. Seeking out the ripest berries, she Works not to eat drupelets, but entirely to Offer them as bait to fruit flies and their ilk.
Right away along comes another Killer, a ladybird beetle, seeking the berries Too, and for the same reason. He's caught, Offers resistance, is overwhelmed, rolled up,
Done. Whatever comes in, if protein, her Ovum will accept. Death it is brings life.