Almost Extinct

Alone upon a snow-decked hill, The tiger looked around, Although the air was not quite still, He hardly heard a sound... The scenery was all but white, Beneath a solemn sky, His eyes were dazzled by the light Till night must make it fly... Alone upon the rockface there, No tigress at his side, The loneliness was hard to bear, Despite his stubborn pride... The hill was his, that much was sure, His castle yet his jail, Where he was rich and yet so poor, Although the alpha male... Alone, with no thoughts but his own, His heart as cold as snow, So what's the use of crown or throne Or fame and fortune's glow? If loneliness is of no worth And detrimental, too, I'd search each town upon this Earth, To hear one, 'I LOVE YOU! ' Denis Martindale, copyright, February 2013. The poem is based on the magnificent wildlife painting by Stephen Gayford called 'King of the Castle'...