Best Tigers Poems
Someday I'll get this sonnet writing right.
Sure, I can count ten syllables and rhyme,
then set my flock of metaphors to flight
and spin ten-dollar words from time to time.
My tiger-words I train with chair in hand
and meter's whip. Good syntax I require,
true spelling, decent rhythm - I demand
they jump iambically through hoops of fire.
I seek out synonyms with sound appeal
plus apt alliteration and aplomb,
but end up sacrificing soul and feel -
it rhymes; poetically though, it's a bomb.
To touch the heart is something you can't teach;
a tiger in a cage - just out of reach.
written 5 Aug 2020
The last Night of October
It's that time, again, the last night of October,
the last glow of twilight nearly gone.
Children race out and about,
winding through the streets and alleys.
Brightly colored costumes,
mom's old wig, dad's old sport coat.
All hoping to fill their bags with the prize:
Candy bars, bag of licorice, candy corn, pop corn balls,
apples, Bit-O-Honey, and Pez dispensed joy.
Some, their favorites, to greedily keep their own,
others to give to a poor sibling, who stayed home with the mumps.
With faces painted, steel themselves, for the gauntlet ahead,
the familiar street now somehow strange in the gloom,
to walk past hallowed ground,
All was quiet, save for the rustling of the leaves.
The daylight gone, now cloaked in Stygian darkness..,
ahead lie, the old grave yard.
Raucous laughter, which echoed only moments before,
trailed off into whispered murmurs.
All eyes from the once merry band looked now,
to their leader, albeit quickly chosen,
the tallest, and oldest, and bravest.
He too, resolve waning, felt the grip of those things unknown,
in the shadowy mist,
heart now beating faster, he chides the little ones,
for being such silly ninnies.
Just now, what was that! What was that sound?!?
Was that an owl? Or, maybe Old Man Godfrey, come back from his
now disturbed rest!
Young sister's hands clasped brother's, tightly,
and brother's, impishly taking the clammy worts,
decidedly grew, just a bit older, wiser,
and braver in kind.
Now turning the corner at Elm street, they walked at even pace.
With heads bowed low, mid-block, each chanced a glance, only to look away,
from the wrought iron gate.
Young heads, did now envision mystic spectres, ghouls and fantastic phantoms, with jaws agape, smiling in toothy cheer, bony fingered hands reaching through the heavy bars.
Swallowing dryly, daring just one quick glance back,
at the narrow lane winding, into the stone covered grounds,
dotted with ivy covered trees of willow and oak.
Back into the world of the living, back to
All Hallow's Eve.
-Happy Halloween
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh, my.
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh why?
Lions and Tigers and Bears are not really all that scary to me,
When we read the facts about other animals in tropical forests, and under the sea.
We should change the song to this little tune:
Puffer Fish, Golden poison dart frog and the tsetse fly, oh my.
Puffer Fish, Golden poison dart frog and the tsetse fly, oh why?
These little creatures are as scary as the cone snail which is no cartoon.
The cone snail has a hypodermic-like needle with venom, shaped like a harpoon.
So if you see a cone shell, on a beautiful beach,
Remind yourself it may be alive, before you reach.
If you are in a rain forest, and you see the cutest little golden frog hopping through,
Know before you pocket it that it weighs less than an ounce, but has enough poison to kill you.
The golden poison dart frog could take you out, and nine of your favorite fellow travelers too.
The toxin, which comes out of her sweet little skin,
could show you all what a mood she is in.
The puffer fish is clumsy, and slow, and cannot readily hide.
But his toxins are more deadly than twelve hundred spoons of cyanide.
Lions, tigers, and bear, oh my.
Better them than the puffer fish, golden dart frog, cone snail, and the tsetse fly.
Through the jungle the tiger moves silently
Like a ghost moving through the trees
It stalks its prey with ease
Then pounces with deadly accuracy
No cage to confine this majestic beast
No zoo to diminish its beauty
No circus to subdue its wild spirit
No whips to put scars upon its back
In the jungle he is king
And is feared by all who dwell within
Tigers running wild, living free
That's the way it was meant to be
7- 27- 13
Western wars brought to foreign fields
Bullet barrages blocked by grim guillotines
Petulant petrol fans the flickering flames
Courageous captains solder soldiers together
Teething tigers ripped from mad mothers to
Carry demented decisions from bribed bullies
All hail the casket caravans of yesterday's youth
There is a little sanctuary, not so far away
That I would like to visit and see myself some day
It houses all the lost, abandoned and abused
Exotic cats and wild ones people used to use
Their stories are so very sad these tigers in a cage
Whose past owners thought these animals
Belonged in homes or on stage.
Some had teeth removed so that they couldn't bite
Others lost their claws so they couldn't even strike
Some were chained for their whole life not ever left to roam
But now that their in the sanctuary, it makes them feel at home
They're treated with humanity, and fed the food they need
They're not forced to perform or even forced to breed
These cats are still behind fences or in an enclosed home
I so believe what would be best is to leave wild animals alone
A tiger roaming freely across the wild plains
Is nature at its best, and more of their lives could be saved.
8/20/13
Lions, tigers and bears alarm me, no-brainer!
Zookeepers seem to like them and circus trainers.
Some blokes put gray in your hair - like Freddy Krueger
but strokes are not funny, I panic 'round cougars.
Pythons, parrots and apes distress me, no-brainer
Crocodile Dundee was just an entertainer.
Trees are traps and leopards lie perfectly still there,
they'll permanently jeopardize lots more than hair.
Gray wolves, foxes and deer upset me, no-brainer
Forest rangers take care and jungle campaigners.
Locks don't stop gorillas, stray geese or grizzlies
merely seeing them turns my locks to frizzlies.
Toadfrogs, lizards and hares concern me, no-brainer.
Steve Irwin, I am not, should I make it plainer?
Lions, tigers and bears make me sweat unaware,
wild animal beasties leave me pulling my hair.
No Tigers At Home In Africa
Walking my tiger home alone I’m sure walking at last
home from home and beyond when I travel too fast
In Istanbul Hamburg St. Davids I gather my themes
full of life love creatures and poetry that redeems
Wild cats pussyfooting around mosques rivers’ cave
roaring of passion lightening loads that others enslave
Museums parks costal paths wild sun-blessed beaches
lagoons mountains orchards and metaphorical peaches
I make up the tiger in my mind as I go along persevere
sabre teeth drooling whiskers to magical eyes I adhere
With no leash and no collar no prescriptions restraints
I enter a world that matters swishes swirls and paints
Imagination mystical fantasy dreams aspirations and hope
all live in my tiger prism escape and have unlimited scope
I condense and reflect diverge ramble think and I feel
whether I walk the tiger or the lion is no real big deal
I contest the notion that reality exists has only one truth
form constraint rules regulation dogma I distract from to sooth
There fore in my writing life verse and poetry ends unshackled
by resting my tiger lion meter and rhyme freed but not tackled
04th August 2016
My teeth are sharp and long
Hunger rouses me from rest
A family to feed
I needs must do my best
I travel many miles
Just some poachers kill lying around
I am not touching that.
Carrion picks food from the ground
The trees begin to thin, I can be seen
Where do I search for my prey?
My eyes are good, my nose is keen
My family are hungry another day.
The trees are sparse almost disappeared
The have been cut and dragged away
This was my hunting ground
But I see no recognizable prey.
A human on two legs
A scythe in his hand
But my family need some food
And this prey cannot take a stand
Hunger prompts me on
My family may die
This is the food I’ll take
One leap, he sees his last sky
No fight, no weight to drag him home
But there was no other meat
These humans waving sticks and guns
But my tiger speed they will not beat.
I could be like the carrion picking at the scraps
The body’s poachers are killing
But my home is being ravaged
By those humans, who the soil are tilling.
No thought for me and my family
Except to hang my skin on a wall
But my family come first
And will until from hunger, we all shall fall.
© 16/08 2013
contest entry
My Canon SLR, is set, night light on, but it’s only still dusk
Positioned waiting hoping for the promised elephant with tusk
Crouching low a rustling in the hot scrub grass close by
I turn slowly hoping, but look straight into a tigers golden eye…
An overpowering smell my nostrils do detect
A deathly smell of blood, on my life I do reflect
The eye of the tiger with its golden hue
He seems so neat, almost manicured too…
The white stripes round his wide open eyes
The crackle of dry grass, the buzz of the flies
The sweat does drip, down my nose
My heart beats fast, the shutter won’t close.
His small ears on such a large head do mesmerise me
The long, long whiskers twitch, so I believe it is a he.
Do I move? Do I breathe? What am I to do?
A tiger with black pupils, why didn't I bring a crew.
Looking through my lens, I see his nose twitch a little bit
I am on his menu it was then the shutter did click
I’m drenched in sweat; he lowers to pounce, this will be goodbye
My prayers are said, my life relived, I know it’s time to die…
Straight through the lens, but what I really did not see
He’s looking to my side, my prayers are answered it isn't me
A sigh escapes, I dare to breathe, I turn as slowly as I dare…
That’s when I spot a flock of gazelle; one of them will be his fare
© 26/11/2012 ~GG~
Contest Entry for: Viewing Life Through A Lens
Treading on free ground
Kept behind barbed wire fences
Why can't they be free??
July 27, 2013
Swim to clear his mind
Land nor water will stop him
Intruders beware
FOR PRIMAL INSTINCT CONTEST
Stowed away in the jungle,
Giant tigers and lions,
I am intuiged.
It is a large Michigan city in the Midwest.
For years, it has stood out among the best.
It has been a busy hub of metropolitan activity.
This is the center of the domestic automobile industry.
Local sports fans have been happy as a lark
with new places like Ford Field and Comerica Park.
However, things have not been going so smoothly.
There have been recent dark days in this municipality.
The City of Detroit has filed for bankruptcy.
They cannot meet obligations when they come due.
This is leaving bondholders and creditors blue.
How are city officials going to pull the entity through?
Reduce spending and raise taxes. What else can they do?
From a news story found on aol.com
Two eyes gleaming in the dark
heralded it's coming.
Silent paws that left their mark
showed where it was going.
Stripey fur and lashing tail
Describe it's fierce appearance
but my eyesight could not trail
it's sudden - disappearance.
Noble beast and savage emblem
Ruler of all lower things?
How they fear you when you hunt them
Creatures that escape have wings.
But man has skill beyond your cunning
Intelligence beyond your dower.
So he kills you while your'e running for
He cannot match your power.
for Shadows...Tigers Living Free Contest.