The mantis which coasts
the epic tropic winds,
overland a world
umbrellaed in green.
The slow lift of its drone,
miniature emerald explosion:
one can document
but not decipher.
Jungle’s wine-red citizens,
motionless and thus
invisible, screen of leafskin
within inches of the colonists’
fearful parade, counting
knucklebones from behind
densest green.