Mantis In The Kitchen
"A name is the shortest form of a spell."
~Anonymous
The mantis in the kitchen
knows my name. He
stares with ice eyes glistening,
watches me
watches me
tilts his mild triangular
faceted face
as if to say, I'm busy,
but later..
I'm never alone for
the things you've possessed
surround me,
watching me
watching me,
mingling our names
in an insect clatter.
The ice eyes meet the fate
of all our glaciers. The mantis
pales and shrinks as
we liquefy in the heat
where even names melt,
leaving a duplicitous aquavit;
the honey of sweet
oblivion
or
the vinegar
of change.
~August 2021
posted for Open Link
at dVerse Poets
Note: Akvavit or aquavit..is a distilled spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century. Akvavit is distilled from grain and potatoes, and is flavoured with a variety of herbs. ~wikipedia
Images: Praying Mantis In Morning Light With Chai ©3D Storyteller All Rights Reserved Fair Use
Cannibalism Of The Praying Mantis Of Lautremont, 1934 © Salvador Dali Fair Use
There is something menacing about the mantis and the way it looks at the person. The symbolism of its warning/snare and how even it pales in comparison to the scorched earth that follows. There's a sense of uneasiness of what the aftermath holds, be it "sweet oblivion" or "the vinegar of change."
ReplyDeleteThank you for the insight, and thanks for hosting.
DeleteI have to wonder about the mantis and the magic it holds. Shall we pray for mercy in a chaotic world of change or will it devour us in the heat of our own fires.
ReplyDeleteps - Always interesting where you go with words.
DeleteThanks, Trudessa. Always good to see you.
DeleteSomething about the insect clatter makes the skin crawl, a creeping awareness of this creepy fuss roaring in an adjacent celestial dimension, otherworldly to us as us to them ... this mantis in the kitchen is a busy ghost or its attendant, massing the giant nest in which we are changed. When a name is lost, does its spell slowly melt? And what to do with its booze? A very busy hive of a poem Hedge and a pure pleasure to read in this first mandible of October ...
ReplyDeleteGhost indeed. The haunts just keep on happening, to paraphrase. The dead are insects of a different stamp, and very tenacious like all bugs, in their machine-like programming. Thanks for your generous and insightful reading, as always, B.
DeleteI find mantises enchanting (not sure if that's the correct plural!) and you've captured their spellbinding characteristics very well here!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Ingrid.
DeleteWith the reaper's scythe (or is it Occam's razor?)poised above my head, my human haughtiness slumps and melts under the realization that mantis and man end up the same, and the possessions we fill our lives with and sometimes prop ourselves up on, won't stop the axe from falling. Salud, sister mantis, and gather ye rosebuds--or lovers' heads--while ye may.
ReplyDeleteYour ending lines are just a treat to read, grim as their meaning may be, dear BFF.
Glad you liked, Shay. As always, you get it, and thanks for that.
DeleteWe are all predators at the end of the day. The grisly end is wonderfully conjured.
ReplyDelete"the vinegar of change" makes one wonder if change is good!
ReplyDeleteHauntingly well written! 👍🏼
ReplyDeleteI admire the turn - even challenge - of the final stanza. Possessions possess us, I think. Each re-read another layer unfolds.
ReplyDeleteThanks, m. I appreciate you taking the time to go beyond the first poem on the page. You are in my thoughts, and hope life is easier these days.
Delete"the vinegar of change"is brilliant and that last "heat...melt.....aquavit...sweet"...sequence.
ReplyDeleteAlways enjoy the inventiveness of your language..JIM