Fie, cruel ringmaster, temperamental tiger tamer
spare thy cruel whip and stinging commands
thy cat lies broken
tail clipped
ears nipped
body whipped
teeth filed down
declawed like a common housecat
Is the tiger still a threat bound like a common hog on slaughterhouse table
sides pierced with blood running down its hide, eyes glazed, nose bruised
senses dulled. Tiger feels no more pain, ’tis tragic beast of burden and suffering
Tiger mourns the tenuous memory of biting thy tamer’s wrist,
for no beast shalt bite the hand that feeds them,
yet even as scars remain upon her lissome arm, beat tiger into submission
tiger sits within the iron bars
nose pressed between the steel restraints
mournfully gazing at a world beyond
no escape, no road to freedom
The fire’s gone, the light is out
Even embers cease to glow
Snuff life itself out,
tiger only dreams
his tiger dreams
those striped
nightmares
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