Something Stirred Poem by Denis Martindale

Something stirred and it stopped him still...
Tiger ever ready.
For him, this was no pleasant thrill...
Ears alert and steady.
Survival starts inside the heart...
Dramatically it screams!
Impulsive thoughts then shout, 'Depart! ',
To flee as fast as dreams!
For now, he waits a second noise,
So he can find its source.
He seems defenceless, without choice,
But he's a tour de force!

A single leap, then he'll be gone!
Try then to track him down!
His camouflage goes on and on,
Those stripes of great renown...
His eyes stare out like focused fire,
Like lazer beams ahead!
To any beasts that would conspire
To plan to see him dead!
Something stirred and his stripes must stay,
Exactly where he is...
It's not the time to run away,
As if life's hit and miss.

His instincts, raw as rattlesnakes,
Tell him to stand his ground...
He doesn't care how long it takes.
He waits that second sound!
Then, suddenly, it's to his right!
He leaps towards escape!
And all at once, he's out of sight!
No more a solid shape!
As fast as lightning cross the sky,
The tiger speeds away!
The wily one has passed Death by...
To live another day!


The poem is based on the magnificent painting
by Stephen Gayford called 'Something Stirred'.