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