The Mantis
By Swaraj Raj
 

Waiting patiently in ambush

in a thick lantana bush

a garden lizard pounced

upon a sluggish common jezebel, who

not having bathed enough in the sun

escaped to fly someway

on another lantana flower nearby

to soak in the sun.

Denied its meal the lizard

clicking its sticky tongue in dismay

readied for another essay

bobbing its head this and that way.

Just then leapt a mantis all green

slender body, legs raptorial

spiny claws and antennae

a head that orbits full lethal circle.

The disappointed lizard

watched again in dismay

the mantis preying upon its prey

but it dared not think of making the mantis its prey.

A killing machine noiseless

deadly violence meditative, cloaked in stealth

did the jezebel or the lizard have any chance

against the green leafy trauma?