In Earth’s barest state
on nature’s carpet and slick
rock tie-dyed by the sun—
the mantis treads and holds
stick arms to the sky.
Molting away its famous
green, it ventures on twig legs
from window to road
into the vaults of nature’s gold
and water haloed by reseda.
The nymphs now welcome
the ground beneath them,
leaving the canopies they clung
to. The re-birthed traveler
though not young
accepts change—
gone is the exoskeleton of summer’s
green leaf and skin—
it’s now achromatic after
August left a September prayer.
By Nicole Pottgen