Tiger

At noon thepaper tigers roar

— Miroslav Holub

The paper tigers roar at noon;

The sun is hot, the sun is high.

They roar in chorus, not in tune,

Their plaintive, savage hunting cry.

O, when you hear them, stop your ears

And clench your lids and bite your tongue.

The harmless paper tiger bears

Strong fascination for the young.

His forest is the busy street;

His dens the forum and the mart;

He drinks no blood, he tastes no meat:

He riddles and corrupts the heart.

But when the dusk begins to creep

From tree to tree, from door to door,

The jungle tiger wakes from sleep

And utters his authentic roar.

It bursts the night and shakes the stars

Till one breaks blazing from the sky;

Then listen! If to meet it soars

Your heart’s reverberating cry,

My child, then put aside your fear:

Unbar the door and walk outside!

The real tiger waits you there;

His golden eyes shall be your guide.

And, should he spare you in his wrath,

The world and all the worlds are yours;

And should he leap thejungle path

And clasp you with his bloody jaws,

Then say, as his divine embrace

Destroys the mortal parts of you:

I too am of that royal race

Who do what we are born to do.

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• Vorticism Is A Choka In Its Modular Home by Poetry In English
• Violets Beauty Passing by Poetry In English
• Victor by Poetry In English
• Untitled by Poetry In English
• Traveling by Poetry In English
• Tracks In The Private Country by Poetry In English
• Thoughts Religious Content by Poetry In English
• The World by Poetry In English
• The Sacred Tree by Poetry In English
• The Poet And Imagination by Poetry In English
• The Holy Tree by Poetry In English
• The Emigrant by Poetry In English
• Tears by Poetry In English
• Simple Heart by Poetry In English
• Silence by Poetry In English
• She by Poetry In English
• Sealed Appropriate by Poetry In English
• Seal by Poetry In English
• Sea Salt A Villanelle by Poetry In English
• Salamis Quot by Poetry In English

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