Mantis Poems

List of New Poems

PM	Poem Title	Poet	Form	Form	Categories
	Come in said the Spider to the Fly	Caren Krutsinger	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, fun, funny, humor, humorous,
	A Lesson Unlearned	Maurice Rigoler	Light Verse	Light Verse	mantis, symbolism,
	Blasphemy of Course	Caren Krutsinger	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, 10th grade, 11th grade,
	Playing Mantis	Chime Justice Ndubuisi	Didactic	Didactic	mantis, death, dream, earth, evil,
	I Heard Not A Word	Freddie Robinson Jr.	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, allusion, corruption, imagery, truth,
	Digital Translation	Freddie Robinson Jr.	Couplet	Couplet	mantis, allegory, corruption, perspective, wisdom,
	We can still be everywhere at once	William Greco	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, surreal,
	Surviving, Hoping Praying Mantis	Caren Krutsinger	Diamante	Diamante	mantis, animal,
	Mary the Praying Mantis	Caren Krutsinger	Limerick	Limerick	mantis, animal,
	Praying Mantis	Caren Krutsinger	Diamante	Diamante	mantis, animal,
	Praying Mantis	John lawless	Personification	Personification	mantis, death, fate, life, love,
	Mantis	John Floyd	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, animal, insect, life, nature,
	Retaliation	M. L. Kiser	Haiku	Haiku	mantis, funny, humor, insect, nature,
	From the book greenlantern	Allan Terry	Footle	Footle	mantis, celebrity, confidence, courage, encouraging,
	Life comes in small packages	Abdul Malik	Haibun	Haibun	mantis, nature,
	Small Scale Murder	Carol Connell	Light Verse	Light Verse	mantis, death, humor, insect, word
	Common Bugs	Andrea Dietrich	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, poets,
	Reincarnated Rozetta, Disappointed	Caren Krutsinger	Couplet	Couplet	mantis, 9th grade, fun, funny,
	Welcome to our Garden	Supraja Kannan	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, garden,
	In Humble Praise	Laura Leiser	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, god, love, nature,
	A Hymn to the Forgotten	Christopher Sergi	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, dark, inspiration, wisdom,
	When In Hell Do as the Demons Do	Winged Warrior	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, dark, dream, night,
	IF YOU WERE FOOL ENOUGH TO	T Wignesan	Couplet	Couplet	mantis, anger, break up, conflict,
	Praying Mantis in dilemma	Solomon Ochwo-Oburu	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, satire, society,
	The Elysian Baby Feels Lament	T Wignesan	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, adventure, angel, appreciation, art,
	Miss Muffet's Revenge: COLLABORATION	Dale Gregory Cozart	Limerick	Limerick	mantis, humorous,
	THE LAST NEGOTIATIONS	Vicki Acquah	Verse	Verse	mantis, blessing, death, earth day,
	Would You Rather Republican Style	Martin Bailes	ABC	ABC	mantis, political,
	The Caterpillar	Loic Tran	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, angst, anti bullying, butterfly,
	Bugs And Such	Ricky Sholar	Light Verse	Light Verse	mantis, silly,
	Digital Mouth	Solomon Ochwo-Oburu	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, relationship, satire,
	Sirens	Michael Coy	Sonnet	Sonnet	mantis, relationship,
	A Lesson in Silence	Donal Mahoney	Senryu	Senryu	mantis, prayer,
	Animal Instinct	John Herlihy	Tanka	Tanka	mantis, animal,
	Outgrew the broken wings	AFZAL NUSKER	Couplet	Couplet	mantis, encouraging, inspirational, metaphor,
	Sandy Is It Over	Mike Hauser	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, funny, humor,
	POETIZED BABIES	Vicki Acquah	Prose Poetry	Prose Poetry	mantis, corruption, destiny, earth, feelings,
	The Temptress	Gary Smith	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, love hurts,
	Lauren Rowles	Rhoda Monihan	Quatrain	Quatrain	mantis, sports, strength, water,
	School Project - Hatched Nightmare	Sandra Haight	Monoku	Monoku	mantis, funny, insect, memory,
	The Bane of Able Men is a Blind and Crippled World	Brian Chung	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, allusion, confusion, corruption, culture,
	Praying Manny	Ir0nic ZiNk	Light Verse	Light Verse	mantis, fun, humor, humorous,
	Senryu	Rick Parise	Senryu	Senryu	mantis, insect, nature,
	Praying Mantis - for contest	John lawless	Senryu	Senryu	mantis, humor,
	Evening Prayer	The Grahamburglar	Couplet	Couplet	mantis, funny, humor, humorous, insect,
	Tyrannosaurus Mantis	John Anderson	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, environment, future, insect, ,
	Praying Mantis	Lu Loo	Rhyme	Rhyme	mantis, child abuse,
	ALAS	Connie Marcum Wong	Etheree	Etheree	mantis, betrayal, brother, divorce, heartbroken,
	FATAL WIDOW'S LAIR	nette onclaud	Verse	Verse	mantis, insect, mystery,
	COLLEGIATE MANTIS	Kim Rodrigues	Free verse	Free verse	mantis, child, insect, prayer,

Mantis Poem Example

Three Messengers

Old and ugly and well married is the visage
that I carry, and yet, there is another world
that keeps opening up its magic door.
It sends me notes and emissaries
that I could be, 
I should be much more than what I am.

The first message, that I was aware of
came to me in the high desert where 
I sat Walden-like by a pool trying to 
get back to the source, I'm told, is
within us all.

Suddenly I saw a flurry
a mile across the valley floor,
a point took flight and became
a mystic preying mantis
that picked my shoulder as a perch.

Mid day church bells rang 
at that moment and I watched
the sound reverberate
shaking bushes and trees
down the valley, scattering
birds and small animals.

Yet the mantis on my shoulder
calmly sat, cocked its head,
and in its eyes there was a question.

I replied to the mantis' query that
"I was old and ugly and well married and
I am simply not quite ready,
but keep the offer open and 
I will be ready soon."

After a month of worrying that
perhaps I had gone too far,
in refusing to go through an open door,
I summoned it again.
Right there in my backyard I heard
a flurry and found a grasshopper perched
where you had perched before.
The question in its eyes left no doubt
it again was you.

I replied that I just wanted to make sure 
that the offer you had proffered still
was mine to take.
You flew away as I explained that
"I was old and ugly and well married and
simply still not quite ready but keep the offer open,
and I'll be ready soon."

Years went by and I forgot the magic,
indeed, avoided magic.
I went to a marriage yesterday,
I sat alone, away from the others,
on a bridge, by a pond,
amongst tall pines and redwoods.
I thought again of the mystic mantis.

Suddenly you were there.
You came out of a crowd of happy guests
and crossed into my solitary space.
You touched my shoulder and my hand
and kept it there for the fastest hour.
We talked about nature and 
books we had both read,
the giant puppets you made,
and about things 
I'd never tell a stranger.
I looked into your eyes
and realized
that we had met at least
twice before and saw the familiar offer.
In my mind I pleaded for more time because
I am old and ugly and well married,
but please, please keep the offer open
because I'll be ready soon.
Suddenly you were gone.

Poem Copyright © ahellas Alixopulos