Some Mantis To Watch Over Me

Hey there, enormous lady insect right outside my apartment door. I've heard tell you sometimes feel like eating men, mice, and hummingbirds, and do. Hence the confusion over whether to refer to you as "praying" or "preying." You've got good front limbs for being reverential, though, with or without some leafy temple. I wish you had access to the internet, so you could fill me in on which of the meanings I should ascribe to your sudden appearance: the importance of stillness and patience before making the right move? A sign that the opportunity I've been awaiting is arriving now? That I need to wear more green, or get my biceps in better shape to audition for that girl pirate movie coming up?

For a minute there, you got worried I was after you, and with increasing speed starting scrambling off on those masterful paws. When I backed off and headed up the stairs you got still again and tracked me with your big, moony eyes. A day and a half later, I'm still thinking of you, hoping you'll stop by again to take out some cockroaches and use the English language to guide me.