Oddyssey-The Bengal Tiger Poem by Loke Kok yee

A shotgun kicked, a deafening boom and pellets through him tore
A scream of pain, ‘twas all in vain for his heart would beat no more

The tigress licked what remained of her leg; which broke off from a snare
Near fully healed as her time closed by; for the birth, she now prepares
In the stifling heat two cubs emerged but only one pulled through
Her grief was brief for she knew; with three legs, she can't take care of two
The cub would stay safe in the den while the tigress went on a hunt
But he'd be out when she returns, assured by a motherly grunt
After two months, he'd accompany her but kept to places near
In six months he was fully weaned, now he followed far without fear

‘ere a year passed and near full grown, he could now take on prey alone
Equipped with some skills of survival, sometimes he'd hunt on his own
But he would still keep close to his mother, having much more to learn
Then the time came for him to move on and his own domain to earn
His greatest threat now was his own kind; the presence of adult males
It did not take long for the first brush, and for him a sorry tale
With time, he became fully grown and carved out his own realm to roam
The borders marked with his urine, to keep intruders from his home

When he sensed a tigress was on heat, he would seek her out to mate
And fierce would be the battles fought, to win the right to copulate
Sometimes when he gets a big kill, he would share it with kin and kind
Allowed all to feed alongside; for they have a unique bond that binds
As loggers and farmers encroached; His hunts brought him closer to man
With his food chain now disrupted; goats and cows came into the plan
During one of these forays; a snare was tripped and tragedy struck
His cries of pain were heard by all; for sure he had run out of luck

A shotgun kicked, a deafening boom and pellets through him tore
A scream of pain, ‘twas all in vain for his heart would beat no more