Praying Mantis Election 2016 Reflection
In this election’s aftermath, I can only say
When complexity overwhelms me, I pray
For each irreplaceable person in our nation and elsewhere —
May we get on with whatever we must grieve or celebrate
In order to complete our assignments
In this unmistakable art of planetary entanglement.
May we tidy, but not decimate, the cluttered storage of our minds and cultures,
Allowing room for destinies we cannot now imagine.
Come with me to the garden.
Kneeling in damp grass I track a praying mantis
It doesn’t know it’s praying, but I know.
It doesn’t know it’s the color of fine jade,
Please help me to know….
Could it be that our times require delicacy we have yet to learn,
I muse as the mantis creeps elegantly up a rugged, dewy boulder.
Maybe the wind of a butterfly wing is now too gross a suggestion.
Perhaps instead the sensate gesture of this translucent leg
Will calm the storm and stir up more beautiful weather.
Could your barely detectable smile incite more than you know?
Don’t let shock or complacency come between you and the grass.
