Swamp Tigers

Our planet over populated
Selfish in so many ways
Man is most unkind we know
For other earthlings pays
Man transcends he wants to gain
Space from other souls
He organises slaves to work
And then of course controls

Habitat loss is everywhere
For the indigenous creatures who
Began the world of living beings
That was good and true
Those that carved an existence
Out of what was such a place
Gnarled and overgrown and dark
And going at a pace

He came in with his upright stance
And overwhelmed us all
Tore down all the precious trees
Their oxygen on call
Raped the fields of barley grass
And violated so
All the living creatures
And all that there did grow

This was his endeavour
And he brought it to the fore
Killed off many specimens
Living in the raw
Wildness became lessened
By the glory of the soul
Man un kind was born to live
Forever in control

There is one place
In Bangladesh
the Sunderban’s its where
The Swamp Tiger stood his ground
Swept away despair
It is a muddy forest
Where mangroves wrestle long
Their knotted web of struggle
Seems altogether wrong

To man un kind who fails to
Comprehend this knotted maze
That holds the earth in its tight grip
If the great sea should raise
Its powerful head and want to take
Vast scoops of fertile soil
This great plant weaves its magic
With extraordinary toil

An impenetrable forest
Is created from its power
The ebb and flow is still on show
More vital by the hour
Its where the great Swamp Tiger
Proceeds to rule and grow
Where he controls the outcome
In what is his ebb and flow

Debris washing up on tides
Brings fertility and food
Where Spotted Deers graze
Nervously
Where Macaque’s the kiaora
Strewed
Everywhere such fodder gives the
Deers enough to eat
And warns them of the tigers
Charge who will convert them
Into meat

The macaque’s have nice red faces
And their eyesight its so clear
Good hearing up there in the trees
Also in the fear
Foraging is dangerous
In a dark and knotted place
Where stealth is so important
And where lives the Tiger race

This sleek and powerful animal
With golden eyes that peer
Through undergrowth to see so much
And help promote the fear
So felt by all the creatures
Sharing his venue
For when he hunts really they know
His march in time is true

And they are easy picking
Despite their in built speed
For he makes hardly any sound
And thus he does succeed
And man unkind is unaware
For in this maze of fear
He is also a target
For the Tigers that are here

Mike heard is one such fearsome soul
A cameraman who does
Want to film this soulful beast
And is excited by its buzz
Enthralled by its great majesty
Knowing how it works
The Sunderban’s one of the fans
And aware of where he lurks

His camouflage is amazing
His swimming ability
His prowess it is crazy
His invisibility
Brought about by solace
By comfort for to know
That anything he wants in life
Is bountiful and will grow

The forest here is laden
With remoteness all the while
A labyrinth of magic
Hard to reconcile
Hides are built for Mike to be
Festooned in glory and
Be able to record them
Within their precious land

They are warriors from heaven
They are carriers of light
Blake gave them identity
In prose and he was right
9 feet head to tail are they
And able to swim and leap
Immensely powerful with amazing sight
And that is why they reap

Havoc in this vast great forest
This constantly changing place
Armed just with a starting pistol
This brave man did face
5 tigers as it happened
Who all knew he was there
Their sense of smell is top notch
Growling for to scare

Feeling rather vulnerable
But anxious to remain
Recording this great life force
With so much now to gain
The film was of their majesty
Two tigresses one male
And six of their dear off spring
Nobody could fail

To notice Mike’s silent testimony
To patience and to hope
The panting of those animals
For that is how they cope
In temperature that rises
That smothers and that fights
And tests resolve a plenty
For the creatures bearing lights

Around them many birds do come
To brighten up this scene
Iridescent plumage lively blues
And green
All the colours of the rainbow
Adapted to this place
And they all get in the picture
And whip up their natural grace

The empire of the Tiger
Who may take much in his stride
Who has learned to live with others
Of his species
Side by side
Prey animals are numerous
And his sights set clear
This area of Bangladesh
Spreads beauty
And much fear

Despite the vast entanglement
Poachers sometimes do
Come to hunt the Tiger
Or the loggers not a few
Bandits pressing buttons
Scaring folk away
But up against a creature
That can generate dismay

Monitor lizards surface
Their prehistoric gaze
9 feet long and very strong
Razor jaws their ways
Sedentary but can they run
Man unkind must be
Wary of the animals
The ones he fails to see

This area holds such danger
From the marauding bandits who
From the loggers and their corporate masters
Who know what to do
With weaponry and machinery and
The ultimate dark power
Obliterate this paradise
From their arrogant tower

But till now the vast tracts
Have held up and abundantly we see
The Tigers in their habitat
Thanks to Mike
And the BBC

To Michael Heard. Such courage such resilience
Such a enormity of knowledge you hold such love
Of the tiger and i was so excited to write this
Thank you