Robert Wylie - Praying Mantis

God! the cramp in her arm
Must be awful,
Certainly, it soon will be
If she holds her book
As if she were
A Praying Mantis.
'The Psycho-Social
Something Or Other
Of Such-And-Such' - never!
Dead givaway that!
The Sun, and a Frederick Forsythe
Novel jammed between thigh,
And arm-rest.
Nothing very psycho-social about them.
Silly bugger!
She is making everyone in the
Compartment uncomfortable.

Who is she trying to kid?
I have a mind to check
With the other readers,
Just to see if they have spotted her.
Risky, though!
Perhaps she is not playing a game.
Well, you know what I mean;
Perhaps she really understands
What she is reading.
The thought of it, I may be the only
Praying Mantis on the train.

Robert Wylie

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/praying-mantis-2/