If you have watched a molting mantis With exquisite precision and no less Exquisite patience, extricate itself Leaf-green and like a green leaf clinging Little by little, leg by leg, Out of its chitin shell, you likewise know How one day coaxes itself out of another Slowly, slowly by imperceptible degrees Of gray, and having fully emerged, pauses To dry its wings.
Robert Francis - Emergence
Robert Francis - Emergence
Robert Francis - Emergence
If you have watched a molting mantis With exquisite precision and no less Exquisite patience, extricate itself Leaf-green and like a green leaf clinging Little by little, leg by leg, Out of its chitin shell, you likewise know How one day coaxes itself out of another Slowly, slowly by imperceptible degrees Of gray, and having fully emerged, pauses To dry its wings.