If a tiger could talk

If a tiger could talk

                      If a tiger could talk,

                      I am for sure

                      He would seek justification

                      He would plead for justice

                      To assess the sins

                       Committed by man and the tiger.

                  

                      He would question:

                      “What justification is that: ”

                       For man to eat tiger

                       And what a fuss

                       Man creates

                       What an uproar man can stir up

                       When a tiger eats a man.

                 

                       Man has invented many methods

                       To trap and kill the tiger

                        And yet tigers have always been condemned as ‘ferocious’.

               

                        We, tigers, have been so abused, oppressed and suppressed

                        Just because we couldn’t talk.

                       

                        Man’s population has exploded

                        At the expense of us tigers

                        We are at the verge of extinction.

                        We eat when we are hungry.

                        It’s the need of an instinct to live.

                        A tiger eats man

                        Who trespasses and transgresses

                        Too much to spare.

                        But man eats tigers

                        For your wilful and fanciful thoughts

                        To believe that we tigers have the power

                        To enhance your constitution and longevity.

                         We bite and eat man, simple and easy

                         Man, on the other hand

                         Slaughters, skins, chops, cuts, saws, hacks

                         Pounds, mashes, mints……to anatomise us.

                         Then you boil, bake, fry, grill, marinate,

                         Roast, steam, stew …………us tigers.

                         To be fair

                       I implore you to be conscientious

                       To ponder on the questions:

                        Who eats who?

                        Who is more ferocious:  man  or tiger

                        Every bite you take

                        On our hearts, lungs and flesh

                        Please chew slowly and cautiously

                        Never swallow us hastily.

                       

                        Good gracious!

                        You are well-off        

                         And we are miserable.

                        You are too self-centred, dominating and exploiting

                        To satisfy your selfish aims

                        Your judgement of Good or Bad

                        Is entirely based on the benefits

                        You can extract from other living things

                        You, human being couldn’t tolerate

                        Any revolt against your exploitation

                        You brand us ‘ferocious’

                        Just because we pose threat to your authority

                        To dominate and exploit

                         Did you know how

                         You transgress and trespass our territory?

                        Did you know how

                        Greedy, cruel, selfish and senseless you are.

       

                        Did you know that

                        You are destroying yourselves

                        And pass your own death sentence:

                        When all kinds of flora and fauna become extinct

                        You are actually laying the road of death for yourselves

                        When the ecological system is upset

                         You, human beings will lose the foothold of life.

                         Did you know that

                         We are all abide by

                         The law of nature

       

                         We are interdependent and in contra-interdependence

                         In the ecological system

                         Ponder over it.

                                                                                           ( 22 November 2004)

                                                                                          (Inspiration series 4)