Poetry
Lessons From a Big Cat
A visual poem in the wild
Face-to-face with a tiger
Awed by her beauty
and petrified by her ferocity
Displaying dagger-like canines,
A row of incisors,
Carnassial teeth working in unison
designed for slicing prey
Papillae on the tongue
to strip feather and fur alike
Oh, the fate that awaits!
Wait! Why are her eyes shut?
Shouldn’t that be me?
Maybe she isn’t raging,
but yawning instead
Preparing for a catnap
Oxygen flooding the brain
to keep alert while lounging
A time for rest and grooming
In preparation for the night hunt
A crinkled nose
Ears relaxed
Lost in her thoughts
Ferocious beast or a big, sleepy cat
Multifaceted predatory feline
***
Don’t take things at face value
You never know
what’s behind the facade
Two sides of a coin
Different aspects of a personality
Neither one right or wrong
Each unleashed when required
The striped feline teaches
to own your calmness and ferocity
When to lay low
and when to charge forth
Do what needs to be done
Make every moment yours in the sun
Own the day,
even if you’re nocturnal.
