Balancing Act! Poem by Denis Martindale

A lonesome leopard climbed up high,
The branch sustained his weight,
Yet balancing was hard to try,
Such skill he must create...
So there he was with swishing tail
As angry as could be,
Because, of course, he mustn't fail,
As that would hurt, you see...

With one leg here and one leg there,
But hope not yet in sight,
With back legs trembling, taking care,
Claws holding on quite tight...
He gulped as he maintained control,
Yet passing time brought faith,
Till something happened in his soul
That made him bold and brave...

The trembling stopped and came no more,
He seemed to glide along,
Sure-footed now, less need to claw,
His muscles felt quite strong...
When fears are conquered one-by-one,
It's wondrous what we do,
Just like that leopard having fun,
Success will come to you!


Denis Martindale, copyright, October 2014.


The poem is based on the magnificent wildlife
painting by Stephen Gayford nb Google search:

gayfordgallery

Find more wildlife poems using Google search
for the search phrase Stephen Gayford poetry.