book clubs,
ladies' lunches.
Tiger doesn't wear stylish hats,
sexy thongs,
or fuck-me heels.
Though she weighs in excess of three hundred pounds,
Tiger doesn't say no to seconds.
You have two arms,
two legs,
two of certain organs;
give them up.
Tiger is hungry and has no time to shit around with you.
Whatever it is you meant to do with your life,
what were you waiting for?
Tiger isn't like the men you know.
She doesn't fall for it if you turn on the waterworks.
To her, you are a protein shake and nothing more.
Tiger, Tiger, burning bright,
'neath your motion-sensor light,
waiting til you need the Saab
to get you to the country club.
At least, in the end, don't whine like always.
Tiger's teeth are white as angels.
Die magnificently! Don't sulk. Don't film it with your phone.
Your husband will sic the insurance adjuster on the Tiger,
all to no avail. Tiger returns no calls
from her cooler-than-you Queendom
deep in the forests of the night.
________
photograph by the swoon-inducingly cool Mama Zen!
linked to Real Toads Open Link Monday.
And, with a wink to Ms. Gruye....
Wow! Now, there's a woman's woman.
ReplyDeleteMy iPad app wouldn't let me finish- I love this! What are we waiting for indeed.
DeleteFun! Reminds of the book I just finished, 'The Life of Pi'. My inspiration to read it came from mi amiga,Kathleen of Wait, I have a blog.
ReplyDeleteWhatever it is you meant to do with your life,
ReplyDeletewhat were you waiting for?
ha, i like tyger's attitude...teeth white as angels...
meow.
This is all the encouragement this tiger needs. :)
ReplyDeleteDie magnificently! Don't sulk. Don't film it with your phone...
ReplyDeleteI love it! There is an honesty to your tiger that is lacking in normal social congress..It's so easy to hide away and hope it will pick someone else to fillet.
First, let me say, this is I think the third poem in a row where you've introduced a character with an attitude, yet none of them are in any way repetitive or going over the same ground--each one is unique, and arouses a different reaction in the reader, which only shows how there will be no hope for hair growth in my future.
ReplyDeleteTiger is above the wiles of the coy, and the melodrama of the human condition, yet every descriptive personifying statement says something about our humanity, our flaws and virtues. Remarkable, and the 'protein shake' line is stellar. Blown away here, once again.
Oh--and bonus points for BOC!
ReplyDeleteHow did Mama Zen get that close to a tiger? I love that, in tiger's eyes, we are simply a protein shake. Hee hee. With expendable limbs. You crack me up.
ReplyDeletethis one packs a punch for sure. some of the lines are sharp as harpoons.
ReplyDeleteloved the glance to Blake as well.
just one question though, if the tiger's caged, as in the picture, can s/he exercise this untamed ferocity?
Love that last line - deep in the forests of the night...
ReplyDeleteloved the saab paragraph. :)
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I'm wondering why the title is spelled "Tyger" when you use the regular spelling throughout the piece. I'm probably missing something.
ReplyDeleteOh okay. I've just gone searching, and I see that you're connecting with William Blake's "The Tyger" (from Songs of Experience). I love this stanza from his poem:
"What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?"
These are my favorite sections of your poem:
Stanza 2 (so awesome)
"Though she weighs in excess of three hundred pounds,
Tiger doesn't say no to seconds." Excellent. :)
"Tiger, Tiger, burning bright,
'neath your motion-sensor light,
waiting til you need the Saab
to get you to the country club." (Of course, the first line is from Blake's poem.)
"Don't film it with your phone."
I love that another poem inspired the writing of this one. And that you gave us the necessary clues to go and hunt down the first "Tyger."
The maother of all pesonal social comments really,. How fantastic was the execution of this point. I feel like I have been cut to ribbons...Excellent.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI should never read other peeps comments before commenting...robbed of my thoughts other than pure awesomeness, Shay and I love this line...
"Tiger's teeth are white as angels."
I enjoy the tone and directness of the speaker in this!! :)
scary lovely
ReplyDeleteYou pack a punch in this piece--loved it!
ReplyDeleteI weigh less than this big cat, yet I don't say no to seconds either, and yet I look so much less sleek and gorgeous...
ReplyDeleteA "protein shake" is brilliant...
The power of nature at its most primal. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteShay, I also went to see Life of Pi, so my memory of lunging tigers is quite fresh. This tiger reminds me of the honeybadger ("Honeybadger don't give a shit, he just gets back up and eats that fuckin' snake...!)
ReplyDeleteLay down with tigers, get up with... bones! Takes no prisoners, yeah!! Amy
http://sharplittlepencil.com/2013/01/13/the-journey-trifecta/
To say I love this is an understatement. Truly filled with Badassery (yep, that's a new word)
ReplyDeleteIn Tyger speak: grrrrrreeeeeaaaaaaaeat!
ReplyDeleteNow that is one powerful female. And she is clearly ready to release the world of the burden of certain sorts of women. Typically witty, entertaining and wry, Shay.
ReplyDelete"Don't film it with your phone."
ReplyDeleteHA! LOVE that!
very cool poem, Sis!
♥
Sorry. I am SO filming it with my phone!
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, reading the poem with the song made my night!!! (plus the cowbell!!!!!)....but then with the song it drowns out the Blake.
ReplyDeleteOkay first: this poem in it's predatory voltairesque splendor is perfect, and then add in the honeybadger shout out....too perfect.
True story: in my freshman year at college, I took an Introduction to British lit course (hello Nortons Anthology, you are still on my book shelf). When we discussed Blake, I spoke up about the tiger, tiger poem...about how I found it a little lame and mocked it in a silly british accent. Then my professor got very upset and told me he had composed music to that poem and it was a hit. His indignant anger only made me think the poem was more lame...this here, what you have done, makes me finally like it!
We can be as they are.....viva la