Mantis
By Jarad Bushnell

 

To which god does the mantis pray?
Which god hath given her
Each shade of jade, richly arrayed,
In viridescent tones to blur?

 

Her quick raptorials abduct
The butterfly and bee.
I fed one once a spider plucked
Who naught received my mercy.

 

 

Drop Drop Drip

 

Drip —
Drop drip —
Nature's rhythm —
Cloud drops drip.

 

From miles up,
Water dots
The pavement ‘til
The roadway runs.

 

Catbirds flit,
Squirrels slip
On greasy wet
Dumpster lids.

 

Drip drop drip —
Tempo's up,
Rivers fill,
Roadsides flood.

 

Deer on forest drives
Take time
To sip from streams,
Never look behind.

 

 

Jarad lives in the Mid-Atlantic USA with a wife and cat. He is an internationally published poet inspired by nineteenth-century lyrical poetry and Golden Era hip-hop. Listen closely, and similarities abound.