Thursday, August 11, 2016

Royal Bengal Tiger~

Along the Bay of Bengal,
   stretches a strange and beautiful landscape
    —part ocean, part river, part forest.
The Sundarbans Tiger Reserve
--- a home to more tigers than anywhere else on earth.
Nowhere else do tigers live in a mangrove swamp.
 Nowhere else do tigers routinely hunt man...
     Ruin is part of the forest-floor,
 Part of its mystery,
          its dereliction,
                its fulfilment.
    The man-eaters aren’t beasts,
     ....They have gnawing hunger in their bellies
        So two beacons of light
  Keep waiting and watching for their prey!
The cycle continues...while they flourish or languish.
 About three hundred people a year are killed
   by the man-eating tigers of Sundarbans.
The joy of sharing seems so incomplete… 


13 comments:

  1. Wow I like it from start to finish. A great story. Picturesque, dramatic, happy and sad.

    Much love...

    ReplyDelete
  2. This Tiger Reserve must be such an amazing place. I enjoyed your characterizations of the Bengal tiger.

    ReplyDelete
  3. " Ruin is part of the forest-floor,
    Part of its mystery,
    its dereliction,
    its fulfilment." Very fine writing!
    And I love that last line.

    ReplyDelete
  4. this captures the plight of the Moules, the hoeny collectors / hunters, the preys so well without their mention....sigh...

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow, I am happy there is one area where tigers still flourish but did not know 300 people a year are killed. Right now our town is freaking out because a hungry cougar has come down from the hills - yes, hunger drives them. Sadly, this youngster will likely be shot and killed within the week.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its we humans who have encroched upon the lands of animals.

    ReplyDelete
  7. At least some animals are getting their own back (other than Mosquitoes that is).

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is so picturesque so detailed from start to finish! Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Not that I would wish anyone to fall prey to a wild tiger but it is good to know they still exist in a planet that exterminates too many predators

    ReplyDelete
  10. This is such an enlightening read with regard to happenings in a part of the world, in my ignorance, I know very little about, and so nicely executed.

    ReplyDelete
  11. such an informative piece here, full of interest too, well written. thank you

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting since I'm currently reading man eaters of Kumaon!

    ReplyDelete
  13. But i don't understand why we call them MAN-Eater.. why are MEN not called TIGER-EATERS.. human have killed more tigers..

    if we leave them alone it will all be fine ...

    but a lovely poem :)

    I love tigers what a magnificent animal a perfect killing machine well almost because Humans are the perfect one's...

    Bikram's

    ReplyDelete

Please leave a line if you have the time...Thanks!