Diablo Poem by Denis Martindale

Diablo was a jaguar,
As black as midnight skies,
That sometimes hide the brightest star
From everybody's eyes...
Yet he had eyes like greenest jade
That looked into your soul
And thus caused you to stare afraid
That you might lose control...

The natives knew him very well
And thus decreed his name,
For they believed he came from Hell,
Their very souls to claim...
Thus superstition ruled the day
Whenever he was seen,
So even brave men ran away
From one so dark and mean...

Yet time past by and all must age,
Men and jaguars, too,
Till one man stood at centre stage
To do what he must do...
He faced his fears, he slayed the beast,
The natives called him king,
While Diablo's life had truly ceased
And he lost everything...


Denis Martindale, copyright September 2015.


Poem based on a magnificent wildlife painting,
by artist Stephen Gayford. Google-search
gayfordgallery and 'Stephen Gayford poetry'.