“No one could say
how the tiger got into the menagerie.
It was
too flash, too bare, too much
like the painting of a tiger.
At night
the bars of the cage
and the stripes of the tiger
looked into each other
so long
that when it was time
for those eyes to rock shut
the bars were the lashes of the stripes
and the stripes were the lashes of the bars
and they walked together in their dreams
so long
through the long colonnade that shed
its fretwork to the Indian main
that when the sun rose
they’d gone
and the tiger was one clear orange eye
that walked into the menagerie.
No one can say how
the tiger got out in the menagerie.
It was too bright, too bare.
If the menagerie could it would say “tiger.”
If the aviary could it would lock its doors.
Its heart began to beat in rows of rising birds
when the tiger came inside
to wait.”
A contest entry
- Re-write these words, preserving the order, as an exercise by Winklings Account.
910 points, ended October 26, 2007, 14 entries
Bronze trophy winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think
Comments
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This rendition has excellent rhythm, it is smooth to read and the line breaks bring things into focus. Well done, congratulations.
-
Almost you persuaded me
to email the author and ask her to change her format!
Good work, in the main.
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you spaced this out well... good job.
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