"The Web" by Pierre Reverdy
Another delightful little piece from The Yale Anthology of French Poetry: The Web A hand, with a rhythmic and thoughtless motion, was throwing its five fingers up towards the ceiling where fantastic shadows were dancing. A hand detached from its arm, a free hand, illumined from below by the glow of the hearth-- and that innocent empty head smiling at the spider setting forth in the night its useless masterpiece. [ Translated by Mary Ann Caws and Patricia Terry ]