Site 947: A Situation Report

Again we drove through the night,

the splash of black

on our tires. We found the valley

in the stale hills miles from the village

of As Sa’Diyah.

From a naked ridge, we looked down

through NVG goggles

and saw the green

swamp of shaking sticks,

thousands of legs,

arms pulsing,

falling atop each other: hundreds

of camel spiders

fucking in the moonlight. We knew

to be still. We stood

as if at attention. They moved,

a swarm on the ground,

all of them touching,

the entire swamp shifting

as they changed positions.

Although they didn’t seem to notice,

we jumped into the Humvees

and drove, our rear gunner scanning

from the turret, the dust

from our trucks gliding, blue

in the moonlight,

like a slow rain off the ridge.