I watch her land on the rain damped earth,
after she flutters down from the sky's cloudy wreath,
those smooth femur hinds, tarsals tapering thin,
and an abdomen swaying with her cursorial gait,
is perched on a frame, slender as a knitting pin,
two mandibles arched to kiss her lover its fate.
those pointed eyes, like a pair of net veiled pearls,
and tween them, rustle two long segmented curls,
her feet part ground when her wings spread in grace,
and she opens her arms wide, before a deadly embrace.
who would have thought this petite flower nymph,
would be cleaning her arms with a maxillary comb,
after staining flower beds with a shower of hemolymph,
and clicking in content, having sated her carnal womb.
Feb 10
Feb 10, 2026 at 3:22 PM UTC
I watch her land on the rain damped earth,
after she flutters down from the sky's cloudy wreath,
those smooth femur hinds, tarsals tapering thin,
and an abdomen swaying with her cursorial gait,
is perched on a frame, slender as a knitting pin,
two mandibles arched to kiss her lover its fate.
those pointed eyes, like a pair of net veiled pearls,
and tween them, rustle two long segmented curls,
her feet part ground when her wings spread in grace,
and she opens her arms wide, before a deadly embrace.
who would have thought this petite flower nymph,
would be cleaning her arms with a maxillary comb,
after staining flower beds with a shower of hemolymph,
and clicking in content, having sated her carnal womb.
An entomological portrait: the predatory (and cannibalistic) grace of the orchid mantis.
