Praying Mantis

i am sure
i am
exploding

atom by atom
i can feel the familiar skin the
chitinous shell that
has held me tight in
its geometry
starting to peel from
my bones
how will i live?
who will i be?
without the boundaries
given to me
at birth?
listening to the crack as
my flesh shifts, i wonder
what will keep me
from spilling?
from oozing out of design into
a nameless stain
a shadowless pattern
that neither myself
nor my friends
will recognize
all i want and
all i cannot do is
remain still
for here, where i am
more naked than a newborn and
where vulnerability rises on
a full moon
i must move if i am
to survive
until the bits of me
now broken into freedom
join again
like scrambled magnets
into a new shape
a future skin
with a better fit and
room to grow, and
a softness
only wisdom can wear
–kw

 

(photo taken of a praying mantis we hatched… about 2 weeks old)

Copyright © 2015 Kristen Wolf. All rights reserved.

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