In the shadows, in the bushes,
in the space between the leaves
A spider in a thicket
crawled up on my knee
I put my gloves on, put my hat on,
and I ran from the trees
But that little black spider
came a-crawling after me
From the shadows in the bushes,
in the space between the leaves
A little black spider
came a-crawling home with me
It crawled across my window
as I lay me down to sleep
In the morning on my pillow
it waited patiently
And then came the ants,
the frogs and the snakes
Slithering and sliding
through my clean white sheets
Rustling from the bushes,
creeping from the leaves
Every awful creature
came a-crawling over me
I crushed them and killed them,
but they came all the more
So I ran in my nightshirt
out onto the lawn
But I tripped upon a tree root
and they swarmed from the weeds
A million little teeth
tore me to pieces
In the shadows of the thicket
rain poured through the leaves
And I was scattered in the mud
beneath the dripping trees
But from here and from there,
from every direction
Little voices sang
under twigs and mosses
And I swarmed and I gathered
under logs and leaves
I crawled and I slithered
under rotting trees
In the tangle of the bushes,
underneath the wet leaves
I am many and nothing
and I crawl up on your knee
In the tangle of the bushes,
underneath the wet leaves
I am many and nothing
and I crawl up on your knee