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.