Tiger Blood

 

Tiger Blood

By Deborah Sharma

Beneath the stillness of the burning sun,
Another hunting day has begun.
You yawn lazily in your fearsome lair,
Yearning for food in your solitude prayer 

Flames of passionate orange flare,
To emphasize your vengeful glare,
And sombre stripes of black,
Make their hostile, evil track.

The burning rumbling tearing at your belly,
Has you so weak that legs feel like jelly.
Yesterday the prey nimbly escaped your grasp,
Fighting back furiously leaving you aghast.

Now wiser, patient, shrewd from your lapse,
You fervently try again in setting new traps.
Though determined to succeed and be fed,
You refuse to give into that sense of dread.

Your eyes scan the jungle for prey,
And any victim that comes your way.
A soft rustle in the distance,
And you prick up your ears in persistence.

Steadily, your powerful body rises,
And you prowl threatening bloody surprises.
Cunning and murderous on soft-padded feet,
Nearing fulfillment with every heartbeat.

Then you see the graceful gazelle grazing,
And you run thunderously with heart blazing.
The gazelle abruptly bolts fleeing your biting,
But you pounce with your grip tightening.

You tear viciously at the tender flesh,
Succulent meat in which you relish.
Indulgent fangs that drip with stagnant blood,
As satisfaction and fullness within you flood.

You return triumphantly to your lair,
Content with your answered prayer.
Beneath the calm of the seeing sun,
You lay down your magnificence as day is done.

~ Deborah Sharma

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Explanation

When I was younger, we had a painting of a tiger in our dining room whose eyes followed me so that I felt he was a silent watchful friend.  I used to make up stories in my head about him, fascinated by his imposing figure but realizing like all animals his basic instinct for survival. 

I eventually wrote this poem about his conquest over his hunger.  I visualized his determined patience in planning his strategy whilst controlling his hunger through discipline. He would carry out his mission with silence and intense concentration always keeping his end goal in sight. Then he would vigorously pursue it blocking all else out.   It made me wonder about my own goals and if applying the methodology of my tiger could be of some benefit.  However, whilst writing it I imagined him at first not getting the gazelle, maybe he revealed himself too early giving the nimble gazelle sufficient time to escape. What if this did happen? Would he never hunt again? No, because endeavouring to fulfill his needs outweighed any lack of success he had in obtaining it. Maybe he would have to change his strategy, prowl a little longer in the shadows before revealing himself, more patience and planning.  He just had to find the right balance.  The bonus would be he learned to become more cognizant of surroundings and more self-aware of his strengths and challenges.

As an example, from my own personal experience, after over a year of a partial torn shoulder ligament not healing due to extreme weakness, I have learned to work through my fear and patiently strengthen the muscles around it that has me lifting things I couldn’t before, made me more flexible and independent than before the injury and more or less pain free.  I’m still keeping my eyes on my ultimate goal of complete ligament repair through exercise to overcome limitations, but I am intent on enjoying the benefits of pursing that goal such as muscle strength and bone health without the need for surgical repair, which in themselves I celebrate as goals.

So even though we may not attain our ultimate goals when or how we envisioned, there are so many benefits and mini-goals gained on the journey itself that empower us, which we have to recognize so we don’t give into disappointment or discouragement.   The outcome is not always relevant at a point in time if we are doing our best to honour ourselves in the present moment, like my tiger who became more skilled as he gained more self-confidence.