Heritage Poem by Frank Halliwell

Look around us at this dismal
Monument to human pride.
Vegetation stripped and wasted,
Future riches thrown aside,


Once this land was all rich jungle
Rampant growth on every hand
Home to hundreds of wild creatures,
Buffalo and sleek Eland..


And the Monarch of this forest
Was a cat of grace and might,
And his striped coat glowed alternately
With noon and blackest night!


Keen of eye, and swift and certain
In pursuit when quarry runs,
They were brave majestic hunters,
But no match for shooter's guns.


Hunted down for love of killing,
For his coat; a souvenir
For the bored, a moment's thrilling
To be toasted with a beer.


One day you can tell your children
How men wouldn't take a stand,
When the forests brushed these heavens,
And the Tiger walked this land.