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The tiger crouches down behind the lines
Of shadowed bamboo, motionless, aware
Of hidden dragons burrowed under mines.
The trees, the open field, and sun define
The forest edge. Where it can stare,
The tiger crouches down behind the lines
To watch the open exit for the signs
The day is ending: workers leaving where
The hidden dragons, burrowed under, mine
For jade and alabaster--till the nine
Tired men go home, the hunter doesn't dare.
The tiger crouches down. Behind the lines
Of cart rails, picks, and pulleys, the confines
Of greed force from the rock a stony share:
The hidden dragons, burrowed, undermine
The system of supports. Without warning signs,
One day they will collapse of poor repair.
The tiger will crouch down behind the lines
Of hidden dragons' burrows, undermined.
---L.
Of shadowed bamboo, motionless, aware
Of hidden dragons burrowed under mines.
The trees, the open field, and sun define
The forest edge. Where it can stare,
The tiger crouches down behind the lines
To watch the open exit for the signs
The day is ending: workers leaving where
The hidden dragons, burrowed under, mine
For jade and alabaster--till the nine
Tired men go home, the hunter doesn't dare.
The tiger crouches down. Behind the lines
Of cart rails, picks, and pulleys, the confines
Of greed force from the rock a stony share:
The hidden dragons, burrowed, undermine
The system of supports. Without warning signs,
One day they will collapse of poor repair.
The tiger will crouch down behind the lines
Of hidden dragons' burrows, undermined.
—9 August 2001
While I'm on villanelles. This one was a finger exercise, and as such I offer no excuses for the subject. If anyone expected something more concerned with the "rivers and lakes", based on the first stanza, my apologies.---L.
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nice
(I'm catching up on your poetry now)
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