......Bengal Tiger Poem by elysabeth faslund

I had a sense of you being near. Alone.
The lone hunter stalking with cautious claws
Extended, imprinting the warm earth.

You raked your claws across my life
In that hunter and huntress ceremony,
Leaving your male mark.

I would gladly have smoothed your fur,
Groomed your anger.

But I had a sense of you leaving. Alone,
With cautious claws extended,
Imprinting the soft earth.

Leaving with my blood under
Your claws.