Stripes and Stars
October 25, 2022
Forever
Again,
For the millionth time
I gazed out
At the starry, brilliant sky
Reaching out
With my paws
Hoping
Someday
I would escape this prison cell
I never deserved
Sniffing, I turned
My tail flicking from side to side like an angry snake
My keeper sneers
Hungry, Stripes?
Anger brews inside
I snarl
Displaying my sharp teeth
When will this ever end?
Memories
Trees
Gunshots
People
Screaming
Growling
My mother roaring
Bristling
Determined to protect me and the unborn kits
In her swollen belly
Then falling
Soundlessly
Silently
Graceful even in death
Her paws still stretched out in attack
I will never
Be able
To erase the memory
Of her blank, empty eyes
Reflecting the sparkling stars
They could not see
Fear
People
Locked me up
In chains
Afraid
Of my claws and teeth
My father
Once said
The fear of a tiger
Looked like:
Cowering
Trembling
I knew that we have
to protect ourselves.
Humans do, too
I have learned
The fear of a human
Is so much more
Violence
Guns
Killing
Chains
Circus
I have learned
That now
My home
Is a circus
No meat
No playing
No sunlight
Only pain
Only obedience
Only the frightful, evil glint
Of the hook
Used to punish us
This
Is a circus?
Beatings
Each day
I have to jump through
hoops
Of fire
If I am scared
Beatings
If I am tentative
Beatings
If I am rebellious
Beatings
Scars pattern my body
Slicing through the stripes
Lacerating at my pride
Trying to belong
They never will
If my family was still here
What would they say?
Each night
I stare at the sky
With my dull, lifeless eyes
No matter how scarred I am
Stars will always be there
Visitors
Eyes
Staring
Pushing popcorn
Into greedy mouths
With ugly, hairless paws
They roar
As I leap through the hoops
And scorch my fur
The whip comes flashing
I roar
They roar
The only difference:
They roar with delight
I roar with disgust
Forever
The air around me
Is hot, suffocating
Once again
I keen
Hopefully
To the stars
I lie down
Feeling comforted
By the fact
That even though I might be here forever
The stars will, too.
