Created for whose sake? The praying
Mantis eats its mate. Hatched,
Two hundred or more eggs scramble 
Away—(Breakfast for whom?)—eating
Each other. Among the outer leaves
Of plants; along flower stems;
Sometimes on branches; sometimes on walls; 
Seen by some, yes, looking in windows— 
They wait for lady beetles, they wait
For honeybees. I do not judge them. 
Do not judge my poem! They are—
I am—both are what we are.
They can be kept (in separate cages) 
As pets, and will take pieces of apple 
(See Genesis, chapters 1-4)
From your fingers or sip water 
From a spoon. With imagination. 
(Familiarity?), there is little
One cannot love in heaven or earth. 
After they know you well, they cock 
Their little heads at your approach— 
Asking, as I do, to be loved?