EYES OF PREY

(Public domain photo from US Fish and Wildlife Service)


(from an exercise by Marilyn Tenenoff)


I stand before my enemies,
Anointed in eye shadow.
I never did like purple,
But I chose it
Because it is the color of confession.
I confess I am what these hunters
Would aim for
With their blunt arrows of fear,
Seeking to kill
The hidden qualities
I mirror, when I paint myself
For love, and not
For war.

The rabbit’s eyes are on the side
To warn him
Of what’s creeping up on him,
To give him lots of time
To flee. I am
As gentle
And as fragile,
But I look straight on
At what comes after me.
There will always come a momentary
Meeting of the eyes,
So I can haunt these predators
After they chase me,
Wound me,
Even if they kill me,

I am the wild spirit
Shot down and falling like stars
In their midst,
In this country
They say they have tamed.


-- © 2010 by Jack Veasey

(All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or duplicated in any way without the author's written permission.)

IS YOUR CHILD AN ANIMAL?

(photo by PETA, found at Wikipedia)


Stone lions are safer
Than real ones –
By which I don’t mean
They won’t attack;

No one will try
To tame them,
Make them into pets.

They’ll guard the door
On either side,
Like dogs, but
They won’t see
The irony.

They will not long
For living flesh
Between their teeth,
Or dream of leaping
On a running zebra’s back.

Once, I talked
To a bear at the zoo
On a steaming hot day.

His cage was small,
Barely had room
To turn around –

He looked
Bedraggled and
Depressed.

I asked,
“are you unhappy?”

He rolled over
On his side, looked
At me upside-down,
And groaned;

I’m sure
He understood.

A bratty little boy,
Running around
Unsupervised,
Plunged through
A group of pigeons, scattered
Them, stopped
Near the cage,
And screamed
To split sensitive ears.

Sadly, the bear
Was too dis-spirited
To even try
To reach him.

So we humans allow
Our offspring
To run wild,
And yet build cages
For the kings of
Beasts, and
For those damaged grown-ups
We consider “monsters,”

And we blame their state
On their neglectful
Parents, and it all
Goes ‘round in circles

Like a lion
In a cage


-- © 2010 by Jack Veasey


All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or duplicated in any way withot the author's written permission.

GRIN AND BEAR

(Flickr photo by HBarrison)


We argued in your truck
Out on the road.
I can’t remember
The subject, only
A welcome interruption:
As you flashed
Your hot blue eyes at me,
A black bear came
Scampering out of the woods
Into our path, oblivious
To us as you, the driver,
Were to him. I lay my hand
Gently on your thigh. “Look,”
I said, in a quieter voice
Than either of us had been using.

You did. You saw.
As if feeling
Your eyes on him,
The bear looked up at us.
Startled, he jumped straight up
Into midair, like some old
Cartoon character – all four paws
Left the ground at the same time.
He turned and scampered
Back into the woods –
And that’s
The only verb for it;
Delicately, like a romping lamb.

We both
Forgot our argument. We’d both known
That this area had bears, but neither of us
Had seen one before.
We shared a grin, and drove on
In delighted silence.
I left my hand
Where it was.

-- © 2009 by Jack Veasey

All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or duplicated in any manner without the author's written permission.