Though thou art insect as
Though thou art vermin
Thy alien triangular head maketh thee look odd
Thy bulging eyes, thy swivel head maketh thee creepy
Though thy name emanates from prayer and spirituality
As thy spiked forelimbs pretend prayerfulness
But that posture is deception, a fraud for thou art
Not pious, not prophetic, not peaceful
But a calculated and cold serial assassin
Like thy cousins the termites and roaches
Thou art vile and parasitic
Thy infestation is toxic and exterminating
But unlike the roaches and termites
Thou art also a pet to some
Praying mantis in delaying tactics
Staying active and saying kaddish
Praying mantis preying in atlantis
Fearing and frantic thy victims pray God grant us
Thy ubiquity sends shivers down their spines
Thou exterminate the pests
Thou art farmers’ aides
Prospering the crops, vegetation, the ecosystem
Thy specie is an alarming 2400 and over
Though thou maketh a curious study, and
Though looking harmless, those who under-estimate
Thee do so at their own peril
Thou prey even on thy own kind
Thy mating cannibalism is shocking and despicable
Munching thy kind alive while intercoursing
Thou art still, a symbol of patience
Thy razor-sharp teeth and spiked jack-knife forelegs
Slay thy preys in an instant
With the viciousness of a marshal artist
Praying mantis, praying mantis
Preying in the mantras
I play in semantics
Chuck Ibezimako © February 2020
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