What Becomes a Tiger

What becomes a tiger

Was once

A ferris wheel

Purring around

Divide, divisive

A slap of the dash

On the windshield

A cornerstone

In the park

The tiger stalks

The tiger sings

The tiger comes in

The tiger comes in

The tiger comes in

Up and around
The circus

The batteries

Die out

Foreign acquisition

And talk

Of a coup

The tiger can walk

The tiger can run

The tiger believes

It’ll make it

Before it has

To turn around

The tiger sharpens

And leaps

Before it finds itself

Becoming

A printer cable

A misbegotten bookmark

A long golden stick

That a woman uses

To walk

What becomes a tiger

Is the grooming

And the ribbons

And the bright red bear

That dances

On a box

It’s standing next

To a stranger

Who you call

Your love

Dancing in circles

While masked liars

Cheer

A stop over

In the hot spot

The boat

The buoy

The story

To bring home

Drop it

And let it remain

Until you’re old enough

To know

Which was a mistake

And which was a marker

The tiger steps onto

The dance floor

The tiger

Gives a toast

Outside the sun cracks open

And dips its perk

Into the moon

What becomes a tiger

What becomes of us

When we travel

Far away

Just so we can have

A different story

That isn’t like the one

We don’t like

To tell

The tiger sleeps

Near better backs

And growls

To get attention

But the night knows

No interruption

Nothing doing

Nothing broke

The tiger crawls

Out of a window

Into the

Remains

Of a long, long

Long

Weekend

Sip champagne

Devil it out

A car ride home

A busker

A fair

And the ferris wheel turns

It goes

Up and down

But the tiger knows

It should be

Going around

And going

Around