Mask Of The Panther Poem by Sonny Rainshine

The black of the panther
is so intensely black
that in openings in the jungle
their forms stand out, instead of blending
into the shadowy foliage.

It’s hard not to wonder
if the constant onus of appearing
ferocious, menacing, unapproachable
instills a fear even
greater than his prey’s.

Never to be able to soften, to uncoil
the lean, sculpted muscles of his back,
or to gaze absently at the hypnotic
trickle-trackle of the rain:
so heavy the mission.

Surely even the fearless stalkers
of the impenetrable rainforest
can feel this—
this disconnectedness,
this separation. In rare, unguarded moments
if you dared to get close enough
you might find signs
of another kind of hungriness
in his eyes.