Karen Douglass, “A Man and His Tiger”

Karen Douglass
A Man and His Tiger

A man and his tiger
walk on water.
Tiger says, Nice day.
The man says, Life
is complicated.

Tiger lies down half way
across the river.
Come here, says the man
from the far shore.
No, I want to rest. Life
is tiring.

But, Tiger, if I leave you
someone will steal you
or you’ll drown.

My friend, tigers can swim,
and I am too fierce
to be stolen. You go on.
We will meet again.

Oh, Tiger, I am weeping.
You were my idea. Now look
at what you’ve become.
Sobbing the man stumbles
along the far shore.

Tiger yawns, rests his head
on his massive paws and
naps in the sun. When he wakes
the world is dim, and he knows
that the man is forgetting him.
Tiger feels too weak to rise
and the river murmurs,
Dear Tiger, welcome home.