When tigers pause, their eyes stare deep, <br />Across each forest scene... <br />To scan for creatures that can creep, <br />No matter, mild or mean... <br />This tiger searches high and low, <br />His eyes pan left to right... <br />And as they wander to and fro, <br />The tension starts to bite! <br />In seconds, everything could change, <br />A false alarm or what? <br />A broken twig or something strange <br />To put him on the spot? <br />That's why his paws are prone to pause, <br />Sometimes to poise mid-air... <br />Until his eyes have learnt the cause, <br />They'll dangle, dainty, there... <br />Those precious paws hold claws within, <br />So he can hold his own. <br />If he must fight, he won't give in... <br />His heart is cold as stone! <br />The gentle cub is long since gone, <br />This adult heart beats now... <br />Survival instincts carry on, <br />To them, each soul must bow... <br />He knows that one mistake and then, <br />They'll write his epitaph! <br />Now safe, he treads the ground again... <br />And carries on his path... <br /> <br /> <br />The poem is based on the magnificent painting <br />by Stephen Gayford called 'Eyes Of The Forest'.<br /><br />Denis Martindale<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/eyes-of-the-forest/
