Praying Mantis

Prophet at prayer
worshipping silence,
forwards, backwards,
like a leaf it sways.
A camouflaged god
with all-seeing vision;
uplifted forelegs
await holy communion.
For the Bushman people,
spirit of the moon—
a trickster weaving
in and out of the visible.
Carnivore, cannibal:
violating laws that
in war and love
we violate, over and over.
With reptilian chill
its triangular head
swivels to observe
from green or pink eggs:
sleek alien, dwelling
in a different time,
belonging in the air
of some other planet.