Best Leopard Poems
She casts
dark shades
of black
on white,
as fresh
fine snow
falls to
the ground.
She creeps,
in stealth,
to hunt
her prey
in still
black of
night, then
sleeps sound
by light
of day.
Her world
is cold,
as she
grows old.
Paw prints
sight, black
on white.
© Connie Marcum Wong
Second Place
United Colors: Black and White Contest
Sponsor Silent One
3-6-16
Picture #2. Snow Leopard
soft, yet ...
like a breath of Noshaq
you are gone in a whisper
bound for some dreamy realm (imagining)
where exquisiteness affords you
a throne in Valhalla …
you dance among the frosted peaks
like Misha with the Mouse King
prancing on a puff of wint'ry wind
yearning for the bloom
of early Spring
the nuzzle of a warm nose
or the easy gift
of a frozen lake of swans
hush, you ...
about your business
secret stories you tell to the mountain
of visceral attentions, keen
wondrous things that we lesser creatures
will never be privy to -
things that you find your common bidding
but that fools like me -
wholly taken with sublime form
and ghostly airs -
find spellbinding ... breathless
enchanting ...
you are a feral phantom
demon AND deity of a covert kingdom
I am cursed to only conjecture on
or put to inadequate word ...
a magical dominion of
deliberate and brutal elegance
that has graced me with but a glimpse
a rare, tender, precious instant
blessed by the substance of a moment
far too beautiful to ever
capture.
Mack had been an over the road driver for sixteen years
And had never seen a leopard on any of his highways.
This one came leaping out of the middle of a thicket.
Stopped right in front of his eighteen wheeler.
He tried to brake but hit it full on.
The leopard sprang up to the windshield and growled at him.
Her teeth were huge. Her eyes a glowing green.
She had sprouted wings, and she looked menacing.
Her paws slammed against the glass.
He had been going to stop, but at this point he kept going.
She disappeared a second later. Not like falling off, but rather
dissipating in midair.
I have to stop drinking this coffee he thought.
His hands were shaking; he was unnerved.
Twenty two miles later a small black pussy cat was sitting in the middle of the road.
He tried to brake, but there was not enough time.
His truck hit something big with a loud bang.
He heard screeching and crunching of bent metal.
He got out to survey the damage.
There was no kitty;
but the front of his semi had a thousand dollars’ worth of damage.
He turned and saw the leopard watching from a hill across the road.
Next to the leopard was the small black kitty.
Silent, hidden lurking
In the quiet, empty spaces
Floating, ancient Insect;
Turning droplet hazy. . .
Moving, breathing knowing
Another feline faces---
Hunger, further paw marks
Corners there to brace me.
Climb up to a tree.
Jump, tear, and tether.
Hold-fast, breathing, eating.
Reaping other meanings. . .
Stepping; other traces.
Spiders, monkeys, murky. . .
Sniffing, darkness, pausing.
Toying other feelings
Elusive, resting purring.
Other paw marks near me.
Black and White.(Snow leopard)
Black spots
on white
base are
large cats
that leap
and gift
dot prints
in vogue,
its seen
on clothes
and things
used by
us,thick
fur shields
us from
cold waves,
dark side:
sad that
they are
rare now,
less seen
in dense
green,save
them,care
for earth.
Inspiration:Silent One
08.03.2016
The snow leopard
A snow leopard is walking down snow covered streets.
In these empty streets, she walks alone, a vision to be seen.
With skyscraper buildings on either side,
All the cars are silent,
The apartments only have a few lights on,
As she walks outside in the night-time.
With every stride the snow leopard creeps along,
These empty streets with her eyes fixed upon,
Her destination; the local fountain has become an ice rink.
She needs a place where she can sit and think
And the frozen water is calling.
The scratches on the surface from skaters earlier in the eve,
Are sliced crisscross by fur-covered shoes;
Her claws dig in deep.
With perfect balance she moves along;
Tail flat, she is relaxed, no pressure is on.
No need to flee, no-one to be seen.
The snow leopard lies down to relax; her cub inside is heavy.
Before dawn has arisen, the snow leopard has awoken.
Her ears pointed skyward to listen to distant sirens.
From early risers, phone calls have been made;
The zoo keeper is on his way…
But with a flash of her silhouette, the snow leopard is gone;
She was only seen close up for a second,
Before she disappeared into the thick winter’s fog.
Never to be seen again, but the lights in the skyscrapers remember.
The snow leopard stood here, on this cold night mid-December.
From where she came, nobody ever truly knew;
Some people say she was here simply looking for food.
She had been hiding a long time in a snow cave;
Her footprints were filled by the snow and her tracks began to fade.
She never was found and never again did she return.
The snow leopard was just passing through, her image just a blur.
Like a wind through a narrow street,
A piece of ice falling through a cloud;
A memory of a snowflake that disappears as soon as it is found.
There was no sign that the snow leopard had ever been around
And there was no way to know why,
The snow leopard ever came walking through this town.
(C)2017 Aa Harvey. All Rights Reserved.
The most elusive of all the big cats. A patient, intelligent, efficient
Hunter prowling and striking at prey with deadly intent and precision
Enigmatic. Adaptable. Strategic. Endangered. The...
Leopard, a wild cat native to the Serengeti Savannah and South Asia
Expert tree climber with sharp talons and searingly intense cognac eyes.
Opportunistic, nocturnal, powerful, aesthetically striking
Predator. A study in contradiction; simultaneously fierce and shy
Agile acrobat; quintessence of feline grace. A master of camouflage with
Rosettes on its fur and long tail. A ghost-like hunter, springing with
Deadly pounce. A loner. A stealth assassin
Your Favorite Animal In The Wild Poetry Contest/Winner(2nd Place)
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
Date written and posted: 05/11/2018
Submitted on 12/10/2019 for...
Your Favorite Animal Poetry Contest /Winner(1st Place)
Sponsored by: Gregory Paul
LEOPARD TO HUNTER:
Hello please do come right in
Did you say that you fancied my skin
My coat of fur is not for your use
The Animal Kingdom suffers your abuse
If the creator had felt you required my skin
I'd be sitting where you are, and you'd invite ME in
ELIZABETH SMITH
Adopt a snow Leopard the TV ad said
Just £5 a month
So I signed up straight away
I forgot all about it
until there was a knock on the door one day
I opened the door and just saw two delivery men
run away.
And there before my door
was a large crate
that wasn't there before
There was a label
saying ''this is Fred
handle carefully or you
maybe dead''.
Well I scratched my head
then the penny dropped
as I heard a mighty roar
Never had a cat as a pet before.
I opened the crate carefully
and much to my surprise
With a huge snow leopard with massive sharp teeth
and wild angry eyes
I didn't know what to do
but I needed new underpants
and I was petrified.
''Here kitty'' I said I guess it wasn'twell fed
by the way it bit my leg ouch!
I was as angry as a thunderstorm
and shouted very loud
and Fred got back in the cage
at the back and coward.
Soon I realized Fred was just a scaredy cat
and not a fearsome monster at all
He loved having his belly stroked
and playing with a ball.
We'd go everywhere together
and in the stores we'd always get straight to the front of the cue
We'd run through through fields of lavender
and taste the morning dew.
Then one morning I got a letter
''We want Fred back he's so rare
we want to put him in a zoo''
I thought not bloomin likely
but what could I do?
To be continued.
On a serious note, Snow Leopards are very rare, so are mountain Gorillas, only 180 left. They are trapped and killed for trophies and fur. They were here long before is. they need our help. The World wildlife fund and other such charities rely on donations.
Peter Dome.copyright.2013. Dec.
LEOPARD TO HUNTER:
Hello please do come right in
Did you say that you fancied my skin?
My coat of fur is not for your use
Cats like me have suffered enough abuse
If the creator had felt you required my skin
I'd be sitting where you are, and you'd invite ME in!
ELIZABETH SMITH
Blackbirds and undulate bush
Trapped in time's tapestry--
The fluid hide of the big leopard
Who leapt on cushioned feet
Once to race the swiftest
Scents in the wind-- A proud
And muscular beauty, the leopard,
Left alone now does not stalk
But paces on bare concrete
Where chunks of prey fall cold
By his dung, by his hidden claws.
He walks in rhythms of gone sound--
Chuckles and howls, hooves in sprints,
Shrieks of struggles in his teeth.
He does not stalk; he paces now
Behind the bars of our amusement--
Another of God's profound ideas
Revised by men.
They call me Leo,
Leopard is my full name,
I live in the jungle,
With my family and kids,
and we get to have fun,
I Love the other animals but,
I cant deny the fact that,
I love killing gazelles,
zebras and all animals that are edible,
It's the only way I can survive
in this cruel environment.
I am a carnivore,
a meat eater.
I sometimes wish I was a Herbivore,
a plant eater,
like gazelles or Zebras or cows,
I sometimes wish I was an omnivore too,
like humans,
like Mr. Kamau,
I could be eating plants and animals,
and I would not kill every day of my life.
I love basking and taking a walk,
sometimes it gets boring here in the jungle
and all I can do is sit
on top of a tree and stare down.
How I sometimes wish I was the king
of the jungle Like Mr. Lion,
He is big and mighty and
the type of animal you wish you were.
He is proud but then again,
not as proud as the peacock family,
Peacocks are pretty with so many colours.
But all the same.
I thank God am not as ugly as Mr. Hyena .
(I hope he wont hear me)
who for the last 6 months
has been trying to strike up a friendship with me.
But no!!!!!
He may have spots like me but
he doesn't look one bit like me.
It would be a bit different
if we were talking about Mr. Tiger and Cheetah
who I cant deny are my close relatives.
We even look alike in some way don't you think?
Oh well, I can spend all my time hear talking about my life but I have some brothers who live in the land of snow.
The are so beautiful and we like calling them Snow Leopards.
GRAPE VINES LEOPARD
Dionysus
knew the way to his father’s heart
changing vines fruit into
wine
astounding Zeus with his bar chart
art
rewarding his genius making him a
god
while the Greek prune juice
king
he sent to vast pastures of ring
sting
In funky leopard skin loin cloth
partying it up in ancient
Greece
sailors tried to destroy his
peace
error of judgement caused their
demise
Dionysus
turned them to dolphins
tossing them to vast oceans
tides
Morals we learn from this mythical
tale…
never mess with Ancient Greek gods
sober or drunk their powers forever
prevail
Kim van Breda—2 January 2015
Motionless the big cat waits
deep in the scrub shadows
sun starting to set, night draws in
fading light makes her invisible
Only the odd flick of an ear
gives her positition away
suddenly she tenses and coils
a spurt of speed and its done
She and her cubs will eat tonight
softly the mother leopard calls
with a few rustles of undergrowth
they tumble into the moonlight
Furry balls of fun without a care
they belly up to the deer carcass
a few more weeks learning the ropes
then a solitary life awaits them all
Of the four she now has with her
maybe one will make it through
struggling with the strife of living
whilst fighting to rear her own cubs
For now they are safe and well tended
with a soft cry she takes them back
to her well hidden clifftop cave
they are all safe for yet another day
written 08/06/2013
Although, being cautious during explorations,
forests generally host intrinsic jeopardy.
Killer leopards mutilate not only people, quickly.
Readily, saving them until voracity wants: Xena; Yaks; Zebras.
12/27/2016