My daughter shows
me her photo of this
green-and-brown
praying mantis,
and a line from some
old black-and-white
television show pops
into my mind:
“You don’t have to bite
my head off, lady!”
Well—
this world
the way it is,
things the way
they are—
maybe she does,
buddy,
maybe she does.
Charissa Menefee is a poet, playwright, and director. She recently published a chapbook, When I Stopped Counting (Finishing Line Press), and her poems have been published or are forthcoming in Poetry South, The Indian River Review, Adanna, Terrene, Amygdala, The Paddock Review, and Telepoem Booths. She is on the faculty of the MFA Program in Creative Writing & Environment at Iowa State University.
Editorial art by Elle Aviv Newton.
