praying mantis,
you hold my heart tattered at half-mast,
a mantra to the sanctuary
the solace your voice once provided
I hear it screaming in the chasms of silence
left between breath strokes
and withered stars--
haikus of misunderstanding,
a poetry all its own
there's a breaking to the madness,
a confusion of who I was and who I am;
there's a madness to the breathing,
a reckless nonchalance
tempting the web I've woven around my wounds
bandages can't fix this,
stitches are bound to rip in the sunrise,
and your claws are too clean
to be strangling me so quickly
so pull me close and tear me open
I'll figure out the rest
under a differ