Thursday, December 20, 2018

Tasmanian "Tiger"

About the Tasmanian tiger (click)

Tasmanian Tiger, (Wolf)

My reputations fierce,
outward appearance
a defense, a sheltering

for if you had taken the time,
looked into my eyes,
ignored battle scars, set jaw,

you might have glimpsed
the me inside,
shy and solitaire -

may have fended off fate
and sepia photographs
that mystify, more than reveal.

by Margaret Bednar, December 20, 2018


This Tasmanian "Tiger" was hunted to extinction as farmers believed their chickens were threatened.  And some of them were, but they were trigger happy and humans obliterated this species.  It was actually a marsupial - not related to a tiger or a wolf.   It is actually closely related to the Tasmanian Devil.

Expedition Unknown (Josh Gates) had an episode exploring the belief this animal may still be alive in Australia - but very elusive... the finding was inconclusive but very intriguing.  HERE

Linked with "Imaginary Garden with Real Toads - Fireblossom Friday - Lament for the Thylacine"

12 comments:

said...

I am LOVING that third stanza!

Fireblossom said...

That ending is exactly so.

brudberg said...

and the sadness is... will we ever know... just like we'll never sea the great auk...

Rosemary Nissen-Wade said...

Ah, this is the true Thylacine! Sad that the early settlers didn't understand.

Old Egg said...

Sadly in the early days no thought was given to the uniqueness of Australia's fauna and flora when settlers were struggling to make a living in a strange and hostile environment. Apart from the Thylacine the native full blood aborigine people were wiped out as well!

Kim M. Russell said...

A tender poem, Margaret, a metaphor for all native peoples and species that have been driven to extinction. It’s a shame that none of the early settlers were interested in anything that was already there – they just wanted to make it their own and change it to suit themselves. You’ve captured all of that in the lines:
‘…if you had taken the time,
looked into my eyes,
ignored battle scars, set jaw,

you might have glimpsed
the me inside,
shy and solitaire’.

annell4 said...

I loved your poem.

tonispencer said...

the me inside....I think that is all we want, really. to have the inside seen. Excellent and sad poem.

Jui said...

Wonderful poem!
I totally agree with ..."sepia photographs that mystify, more than reveal."
I enjoyed reading this one!

purplepeninportland.com said...

Wonderful third stanza, Margaret. Beautiful, but sad.

Kerry O'Connor said...

If only people took more time to look into the eyes of their victims, the world would be a better place.

Susie Clevenger said...

If only we could truly see and hear what the eyes hold. This is beautiful.