Praying mantis, why do you pray? For world peace, a hunk of bread, a decent meal, to not have to steal for that meal, for no pesticides and toxins in that gluten free flax meal? Praying mantis, maybe you are here to remind me to pray before my meal, to be thankful for what I have, thankful for a cool house when others swelter, thankful for a meal, a mate, a meal, a mate… I never am certain if I am dreaming, or if it is realistic that a praying mantis might descend, eat me head and all. A bigger mantis in the sky. Something to believe in.