The last tiger’s letter

· by · in dVerse, poetry. ·


I write my letters as I can
my paws, though strong, lack the finesse
expressing my disgust for plans
that me, and our habitat oppress

You say my strength is burning bright
in fearful symmetry might say
yet you harass me with your might
in borrowed stripes from me, you flay

You keep me safe behind the bars
and watch the jungle in my eyes
but as you battle in your cars
in concrete jungles, are you wise?

We tigers can recall the days
when still you knew the smell of woods
we lived in fear but knew the ways
today excluded from your hoods

Reduced to symbols in your ads
and moving pictures in your rooms
my burning stripes are comfort pads
you choke yourself in noxious fumes

So when the tigers are extinct
you’re left alone with just my stripes
as a reminder they’re distinct
the prize of progress as it gripes

In concrete you can fear yourself
a predator that worlds absorbs
as tigers will be kept on shelves
see leader of your pack in Forbes

Tiger by Eugene Delacroix

Tiger by Eugene Delacroix


Today in dVerse we are writing letter poetry with Mary, pub opens at 9 when I probably are out running a 10K race. Many of examples I have read are written in tetrameter quatrains, so I choose to do the same.
—
August 17, 2013

36 responses to “The last tiger’s letter”

  1. You keep me safe behind the bars
    and watch the jungle in my eyes…ugh…that’s why i don’t like zoos so much…. cool idea of writing from the tiger’s perspective… and hey…have fun at that race…

  2. how sad it will be when the last one in the wild is gone….when something so powerful and beautiful is taken…there have been like 10 animals declared extinct in the last 4 years….i took a look at the list and its pretty sad the things our kids will never see…

  3. This is excellent, Bjorn. I do hope there is never a ‘last tiger” and that all that will remain will be “stripes’ one place or another. You gave that tiger voice. I especially liked the illusion to the William Blake poem “The Tyger,” which I always liked. Nice use of rhythm and rhyme, as always!

  5. How sad to belittle and kill these animals for the price of progress & greed ~ Lovey work on the form, you are natural with these structured forms, smiles ~

    And good luck on your race ~

  8. a fine letter form, and strong verse throughout as you tackled a major issue with aplomb, sir. Let’s hope we, many of us, do not live to see the last of the truly wild tigers, or so many other species; like in SILENT RUNNING, where the last of the planet’s forests are up in space being tended by droids; thanks for the jibe & ride.

  9. It is sad how we have captured and oppressed other species of animals, attaining our dominance over them.
    I don’t like the idea of zoos… they do not belong there. Tigers are better off running in the wild but what is happening to them is plain cruel. You send across the message through your words. The narration of the tiger is brilliant and the metaphors… as always make my eyes glint in wonder.

  12. Speaking on behalf of the tiger (and other near extinct animals) is clever and used to good effect. After the tigers, “you can fear yourself.” That is scary.

  13. …seriously, i read a bit of William Blake here… and love the easy flow of your writing today…. much enjoyed with the tigers…yay… smiles…

  15. Anxiously a prized tiger skin is the only reminder and soft to the touch. Golden stripes can never be duplicated. Sorry sight to behold. Great write Bjorn and had a good run?

    Hank

  17. This poem saddens me the plight of our wild life..watch the jungle in my eyes..the tiger should be seeing the jungle with his own eyes.

    PS Enjoy the race…

  18. This is very cool! I’ve read poems about teh plight of animals, but not one where the animal talked back pitying US!! Forbes indeed!

  21. watch the jungle in my eyes…

    This is the saddest poem I have read in a long while. And there seems to be nothing we can do about this. Sabri Zain of Traffic International and Leonardo De Caprio should read this poem….

  22. as others have written BR you have ‘captured’ the feelings well of a magnificent creature that soon too will be lost forever. Hope you do well in the race..perhaps imagine being chased… 🙂

  27. I hear you, Björn… They are such beautiful creatures – but even if we didn’t consider them so, they deserve better treatment from us.

  28. I do hope that tigers shall never go extinct. I think it is the greatest feeling to see a wild tiger and to feel that fear pumping inside of you to see the royalty of this beast. We may loose it soon, the poem reminded me of this sad fact

  29. Well-written plea for the tiger, Bjorn. I read of the ultimate insult to another beast of the jungle, the mighty lion, in this morning’s newspaper: “BEIJING — Behold the regal lion and hear its mighty … bark? A zoo in the central China city of Luohe attempted to pass off a Tibetan mastiff as a lion, state media reported. The large, aggressive breed has a trademark bushy mane that gives it a lionlike appearance, but its vocalizations are more woof than roar….” At least the tiger has escaped that indignity (so far as we know).

  30. At first reading, I didn’t take this as a literal tiger. More metaphorical. Especially at the end, “In concrete you can fear yourself
    a predator that worlds absorbs.”

  31. This is so sad, although the Blake reference was sweet. It’s so true, human beings are destroying habitats of all… including our own.

    This was a unique take on the prompt… not only a letter FROM, but a letter from the unexpected… an endangered species. I would call this quite brill, Bjorn! Amy

  32. “You keep me safe behind the bars
    and watch the jungle in my eyes…”
    These words still linger with me. More and more I am not comfortable with zoos and what they represent. If they are protecting a species from extinction, then I feel that is OK. But any other reason …the grand parade…then no. A powerful piece of writing.

  35. Stunning writing. Read it to my husband in the car on the way home I was so taken with it. So was he. Made me teary reading it…thinking about tigers or any animal becoming extinct. Not very humane of humanity.

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