“They knew enough to know it was not theirs.” 1
There’s nothing “horrid”
about Nothophantes horridus.
“Bristly” (old Latin)
and so RARE
they are only found
in the limestone quarries
of Plymouth.
Ancient Janners,2
nocturnal cracks
and crevice creatures.
Leaf litter, rock refugees,
endemic to Britain only,
critically endangered,
fighting for survival.
Just two and a half
millimetres long,
these tiny, elusive
money spiders,
as orange as apricots,
have become talismans
for all endangered species.
They may not be tigers;
but they are now a cause célèbre!
Threatened
by housing estates
by appeal, rejected,
appeal, rejected “Developers,”
by Wainhomes (South West)
Holdings Ltd,
by the private owner
of Radford Quarry,
(a last stronghold,
a last sliver of habitat,)
now seeking planning permission
(Shapter’s Field Quarry
already gone – “Dev*loped”…)
Billacombe and a secret site in
Cattedown: THE LAST HOPE.
To knowingly cause
the EXTINCTION of a species?
Despite an independent
housing inspector judging
development plans to be “harmful”
to the spiders clinging on
for dear life
and to other wild beings:
Plymouth’s plunging
“Biodiversity.”
10,000 people signed a petition to save
these hairy heroes.
Silk sheet weavers;
they make their webs of wonder horizontally,
Devon crafters, worthy of the Guild!
Monogamous, mating under rocks,
to make their spiderlings;
they feast only on springtails.
And life at best lasts
just one precious year.
It is our moral duty (said Pope Francis)
to ensure sufficient space is left
for endangered species to survive;
that society values
the seemingly insignificant.
“Everything is connected.” 3
All creatures: great and small.
The earth remembers in the dark.
The earth remembers in the dark.4
Lost maps of wings and fins…5
When the transformation comes,
it will be sudden.6
Follow patterns laid by laws
not invented by man.7
Heidi Stephenson
1 A line taken from the poem A Brief History of Light by Catrione O’ Reilly
2 A local Devon term for Plymothians
3 A phrase used regularly by the late Pope Francis
4 A line taken from the poem Incandescence by Ted Walter
5 A line taken from the poem Lumber by Isobel Thrilling
6 A line taken from the poem Solstice by Hilary Llewellyn-Williams
7 A line taken from the poem Engineering by Isobel Thrilling
.
I should point out that I’m no believer in Popes, priests, cardinals or bishops – but it’s very helpful when a leader of over 1.4 billion humans on Earth says something positive about our fellow beings and their intrinsic rights, and advocates for (rather than against) them. There is nothing “insignificant” about a single one of them.
Comment by Heidi Stephenson on 3 May, 2025 at 4:53 am