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October 4, 2016

Two Poems by Grayson Spaw: "Mantis" and "Childhood Cul-de-sac"


Grayson Spaw is a high school senior from Fort Wayne, Indiana. She enjoys reading, writing, acting, and living with her four cats.






Mantis

Like a praying mantis cutting the head of her mate I am aggressive
Pensive and menstrual and longing
Bonging bells of the church greet every hour
Je ne sais pas
I know nothing about singing but I made the school play
The concept is arousing that I wore a short skirt and flashed the audience as I spun
And old friend was with me but for not longer
Smaller and smaller, never in the choir
Like a mantis decapitating heads for a high hire.





Childhood Cul-de-sac

Drive down to Mystic.
Forget how to be polite, don't even try
Squeezed together like herrings
Wanting so much to feel pity, to understand
The sails don’t flap like they used to
The air is hot and stale now
I am not enough good for you
I never will be
I climbed into your skin and walked around in it
I still had no reason to feel sorry.


Grayson Spaw