Hi There, Who Are You? By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB/META and @brianrrs37 on Twitter)

Hi there, who are you?
You look so peaceful
What do you do?

Atop this shrub
I know nothing of
High there, who are you?

My mom warned me
Not to eat those faux olives
I don’t like olives anyway

High there who are you?
You look so peaceful
What do you do?

You look friendly
You don’t look scared
Hi there, who are you?

Can I, Can I
Pet, you, pet you?
Hi there, who are you?

I’ll be gentle
Let me hold you
Hi there, who are you?

What the hell
Did you just do?
I wasn’t going to hurt you.

Kung Fu, ninja stick
Green twig, razor blade arms
You stabbed and bit me

What did I do?
I only wanted to hold you
Just to pet you, say hi to you.

Bye there, I know you now
You stealthy camouflage sage
I’ll never bother you again.
(end)

I saw my first preying mantis as a kid. Yes I said that right, those things are not praying, they are ninjas, and they will f you up. I didn’t know what they were, and they didn’t look scared, they looked gentile. Boy was I wrong, I tried to pick it up and it stuck it’s arm spikes in me and bit me, I dropped it like a hot potato. And damn was it quick. Needless to say, never messed with one since.