Cool Retreat Poem by Denis Martindale

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The big wild cats can soon be named,
Their fame has reached worldwide,
Yet each of these can soon be tamed
When from the heat they hide.
They search for streams and rivers, too,
Cool waters to partake,
Yet these resources are so few
That they can't form a lake.

And so big cats get what they can,
Content to bathe at last,
Because they've got no other plan
Until the heat has passed.
While birds above still sing in trees,
The big cats bide their time,
And in such waters take their ease,
Each moment thought sublime.

And many artists choose such scenes
When big cats are at rest,
When sunshine comes and intervenes,
Then water makes them blessed.
Such artists sketch the details shown
Of how the water glows,
Such that from paintings more gets known
And admiration grows.


Denis Martindale. August 2021.


This poem is about the magnificent painting
Cool Retreat by wildlife artist Stephen Gayford.