It must have landed
On my threshold
Between errands
There was no mistaking
Its glowing green hue
Of course I noticed it
Bending down to carefully inspect
This lonesome spectacle
Its massive forearms
Like wilted cuffs of armor
Were clasped together, as though folded by a fairy
I brushed it with a pine needle
And it perceptibly sighed
Why not stay hidden in some jungle of brush under the Monterey pines,
Or in some sphere of euphorbia?
Where your kind reside
Watching us from afar
I was awestruck
This ceremony was for me to perform
My reverence of these insects runs deep
Symbols of stillness
Of meditation
Of mindfulness
The world stopped, for us
I needed to give this light being
A death not so ignoble as on this concrete step
I lay it down in a bed of carnation greens
Up high in a weathered stone pot
Surrounded by Baby’s Tears
With lacecap hydrangeas bobbing above, like frilly haloes
This was the third praying mantis I had ever seen
And all within the last year
I paid my respects
Acknowledging this blessing
From a world far away
First published in The Dewdrop NOV 5, 2023