i nudge the mantis
away from the closing door
he keeps all his limbs
Tag: insect
image from late summer (20170903)
the grasshopper on the wall
as long as a dodger dog
leaps at our approach
smacks-face-first-bam
into the wall opposite
falls into the rosemary
close encounter (20170715)
buzzing fig beetle
emerald morning jewel
stupid dive bomber
sunset with insect (20161016)
the mantis
caught in my flashlight beam
gold and long as a finger
always our habit
to move everything to safety
–worms after the rain
or a leaking sprinkler
–spiders in the tub
–even yelling at the squirrels
/my mortal enemies/
tarrying in the street
i put my hand down
on the swidewalk
he needs a nudge but crawls onto
the meaty part of my index finger
this elicits a response
from a walker
heading in the other direction
they’re good luck, he says
and i’ve heard it’s illegal to kill them
i find a bush
hard to tell what it is
in the dark
and offer him his escape
he wraps himself around me
like a promise ring
maybe he likes the warmth
or he’s tired of all that walking
or maybe he’s just lonely
but i coax him off
onto the relative safety of the plant