pray mantis

saw a prey mantis the other day, on the concrete stairwell that leads to my apartment. the first time i saw it, it was standing on the window sill. the frosted glass beamed white against it's hard green body. it didn't move and just basked in the sun, posing. i walked past without giving it much notice.

the next time i saw it, it had moved. instead of being sideways on, like it was before, it stood with it's back to me. i could see the full length of the body against the grey floor. this time i paused and looked at the back of it's head. i noticed it's eyes. the little black dot followed me as i walked slowly past. i kept looking at it and it was still.

the next few times i left and came back to my apartment i kept my eye out for the prey mantis, but it had disappeared. i checked the window sill, the hard ground and the brown girders but it was nowhere to be seen. i went about my business as before and soon stopped looking for the prey mantis. the next time i saw it i was face to face with it.

on the way home from work one night i was climbing the stairs. it was perched on the edge of a step, slightly left of centre. i saw both it's eyes looking at me. i saw it's solid jaw and teeth. it wasn't still this time but bobbed his head like a boxer, swinging from left to right; ducking and weaving. i stopped where i stood and watched. it was just about eye level with me. i wondered what to do. it started moving. i looked at it's legs. they were thin and looked incapable of supporting it's hefty body. as it walked to one side, the legs looked unsteady on the concrete, and it wobbled. i climbed up a step. he stopped moving. the light from the stairwell reflected off it's raised arms. i took another step. nothing. i took another. nothing. then it moved; again with the ducking and weaving. i pressed myself against the far wall. it stared at me. i took a deep breath and pressed my toes together. i moved. in two steps i was on the same step. then in another two and i was away. i turned toward my door and put the key in the keyhole.

i looked back the prey mantis. it stumbled as it walked. it's spindly legs dragged it's frame across the rough floor. it pulled itself into the small cleft under the window sill. it crouched then disappeared. i walked into my apartment and closed the door behind me.


band

saw a band in the park the other night. they were singing under a street lamp with an electric guitar, a microphone and a backing tape, all coming out of a small yellow speaker, the size of a lunchbox. they were made up of 2: a girl singing and a boy playing lead. drum and bass were provided via the tape.

i don't know if it was because they switched the volume of the guitar up too high, or the speaker was too small or something else but they sounded great. the girl sang in a very high girly bubblegum pop voice. she screamed the words with perfect sugar into the microphone as she shifted her feet and nodded her head. the guitar on the other hand provided perfect contrast. it was like a chainsaw being taken to grand piano. it distorted, twanged and screeched through the whole performance. between these two extremes were the uniform beats of the tape. he strummed despondently to her eternal optimism.

on the same night, on the other side of the park was an official stage set up for a festival for the moon. there was someone playing a flute. i'm not a fan of flutes but when the player has a pony tail, a thin mustache and wears a shiny waistcoat, you know you're in trouble. of course this clown had an audience of about 50 while the other guys had an audience of 4. it just goes to show doesn't it.