To them most stealthy, most noble, most fierce,
chased and trophied by a mightier foe;
striped jungle beast with eyes and claws that pierce -
O white coated emperor in the snow.
Now it’s the hunter turned hunted - great cat
whose wild prowl is driven to higher ground,
but this I shame to hear, and more than that,
no man should follow where tigers are found.
The captive cub, the zoo, the circus cage
will not the untamed roar save to cherish -
in irony of our extinction age
that which makes you mighty makes you perish.
A world without all is a world less grand
when less roamed is the forest and marshland.
Written: February 1991
Categories:
panthera, nature, tiger,
Form: Sonnet
A bloated river vomits its contents
Towards the sea
Debris and mud floating fast
Past boulders, jutting rocks, obstacles,
Creamy foam caps and whirlpools,
Deadly admission to the underworld below
Where the Jaguar King lives
There he sits, alone on his throne
Panthera onca, God of the night
He pretends to smile, licking his wounds
The ones that time never healed,
From centuries of ancient battles
Playing on repeat
Absorbed in the pleasure of his pain
He is blind, for the moment
If he would stop for one second
And take stock quietly, calmly,
“He who kills with one leap”,
Would admire his strength, his prowess
And see that his beauty, is not vain
That he has produced a kingdom
Of fierce warriors,
Rosettes distinct and unique
Who will carry his name proudly
And love him to the end of time
Flawed, wounded, whole, broken
Perfect
And the one who circles
Who cannot fully enter
Is filled with desire
To provide a balm
For his wounds, and hers
Relief, even healing
And together the strength
To come to the surface
To break through the water
To swim as only jaguars can
And to embrace the living world
In darkness and in light
Categories:
panthera, dark, depression, friendship, passion,
Form: Free verse
I am a lion
King of all the Savage beasts
Shouts roars not whispers
Mighty King of the jungle
muscular, deep-chested cat
10/12/19
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2019©
Categories:
panthera, adventure, analogy, animal, courage,
Form: Tanka
A beauty so rare in it's habitat
Endangered they are by the human brat
Like many others on our planet earth
Our greed devalues their living worth
These Siberian Stripe-rs from the Trans-Caucasus lands
To view it in it's wilds is a feeling of grand
But it's so tragic to believe how few of them remain
Around five hundred and twenty, live in their domain
Three hundred and fifty Kg's, with a one metre tail
Panthera tigris altaica is the size of the male
In China they are being reared to repopulate it's wilds
So generations of our children, will deservedly smile
Will we ever learn that they are entitled to be here
As us humans expand into their expanse year after year
There has to be a time when respect is due to them
Then our time has come to change from man to men
If the above does not happen, we become the last two lines
Another species gone, this most beautiful panthera feline
Imagine the moment when you look into his eyes
There are millions of us, as their last one dies
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/poetry-soup-11.php
Categories:
panthera, animals, hope, naturetime, planet,
Form: Quatrain
sinuous, jet-black,
moonlit shadows on a bough,
emerald eyes know.
Categories:
panthera, adventure, animals, imagination,
Form: Haiku