Mantis Preying Angles, by Alan Bern

Australia, by David Smith (USA) 1951

 
Mantis-Preying Angles

mantis-preying angles
of metal tentacles;
legs lifted in unison of pointing
lines curved to sharpness of deflect:
unmoved mobile of the heart hidden
in the breeze-blown hanging angles
​
Alan Bern

Retired children’s librarian Alan Bern’s poetry books: No no the saddest and Waterwalking in Berkeley, Fithian Press; greater distance, Lines & Faces, his press with artist Robert Woods, linesandfaces.com. Alan has poems, stories, and photos published in a variety of online and print publications. Alan was a runner up for Raw Art Review's “John H. Kim Memorial Short Fiction Prize” for his story 'The alleyway near the downtown library'; and he won the Littoral Press Poetry Prize in 2015. Recent photos published: unearthedesf.com/alan-bern and https://wanderlust-journal.com/2020/07/01/around-the-few-blocks-nearby/. Alan performs with dancer/choreographer Lucinda Weaver as PACES and with musicians from Composing Together, composingtogether.org.