Poem

Caged

Published in Winter 2023 | Comments 1

Caged

there……through bamboo….scrub…..palm
the tiger prowls……up/across/down
the terraced hill…..focused…..and predictable
sloughing…..anxiety off……his muscled back
off the side-to-side…..sweep……of his head
my camera waits…..waits…..waits……to catch
him in…..a slice of light……but without……a hint
he charges…..the fence……bared fangs….snarling
across the path…..to fields……where languid stripes
lounge in sun…..mother/daughter/sister/peer…..smug
and unperturbed…..posing…..for crowds charmed
by mesmerizing eyes…..awed…..by the art
of her orange/black/white…..without a chuffle
or growl…..she basks…..in reverence
I grab…..my camera…..sweep it…..side to side
from the anguish…..behind wire mesh…..to surrender
lying…..in the grass…..unnatural…..this life…..like innocents
trapped on death row…..or refugees…in border towns
they say…..Sumatrans can survive…..a decade longer
in captivity…at what cost….I shout at
the unfettered sky….who…..calculates the price

About Carolyn Martin

Blissfully retired in Clackamas, Oregon, Carolyn Martin is a lover of gardening and snorkeling, feral cats and backyard birds, writing and photography. Since the only poem she wrote in high school was red penciled “extremely maudlin,” she is amazed she has continued to write. Her poems have appeared in more than 175 journals throughout North America, Australia, and the UK. For more information, go to www.carolynmartinpoet.com.

Inhale Exhale

By Jahnavi Pandya and Sam Guarnaccia

Music activates certain parts of your brain which are also related to your decision-making. Music helps to be more creative, especially when you improvise.

Comments 0

Grief

Earth Hospice

By Trebbe Johnson

Like hospice for people, Earth Hospice is a way of saying goodbye to what we are losing in the natural world with the same mindfulness we would wish to bring to the bedside of a dying person. We bear witness to what is passing—from our lawns, our riverbanks, our bird feeders, our winters and summers, our livelihoods and our expectations of the future, as we declare over and over again: I will not turn away.

Comments 0

Ocean Breeze

By Mike Steward

Release all else.

Comments 0

absence presence

By Barbara Schaefer

In December 2007, I was asked to participate in, Pulling Down, an exhibition and performances about the Holocaust, honoring the Day of Memory, held at the auditorium in Rome, Italy in January 2008. I was staying in the neighborhood of the Jewish Ghetto [...]

Comments 0

Caged

Caged

About Carolyn Martin

Related Reading

1 Comment

Leave a Reply to Igor Nazarov Cancel reply