Giant cat,
Graceful cat,
Rare cat,
Endangered cat.
The Amur Leopard leaps over the log,
Muscles rippling beneath the spotted coat,
Soaring through the air.
Landing on the snow-covered ground,
Quietly,
Carefully,
Gracefully.
He looks for his prize,
With his hawk-like eyes,
Scanning the horizon.
There!
He spots the deer,
The naïve, innocent, oblivious deer.
The leopard doesn’t care about that.
He creeps forward,
Silent.
He eyes his prey,
aware that any noise would scare the meal away.
Like a gift,
A very useful gift,
The deer finds something to eat.
The leopard knows that the deer won't be getting away.
As he draws near, the head of the deer whips up,
It has heard something.
And now the leopard hears it too.
The soft crunching of snow under a foot,
The exhale from a mouth,
The twang from broken sticks,
The cock of a gun.
Shots rang out,
As the hunter fires at the deer,
The one running away.
The leopard follows suit,
Body bunching and stretching,
as he bounds over obstacles.
The hunter spots the beautiful creature,
Escaping,
And fires at the leopard.
But the leopard is too fast,
Far too clever,
For this hunter.
The leopard escapes,
For now.
Panting,
The leopard stops,
And lies down,
Far too tired to go on.
The adrenaline coursing through his body slows,
And he lays still
To sleep.
He thinks he is safe,
But the hunter is still out there.
Waiting,
Watching,
For the leopard with the light spotted coat.
The leopard takes off again,
Determined to reach his family,
His love,
And two young.
He hears the shots before he sees them,
Breaking trees and the surroundings as they pass,
Heading straight for their target.
He hears the cries of the leopards before he sees them,
The wail of a dying creature,
Horror filling the voice.
He sees the bodies,
The blank eyes,
Their everlasting stare,
The blood standing out against the white background,
The life seeping out of his fellows.
More than his fellows,
His family.
He feels the bullets pierce his side,
Going through fur,
Flesh,
Muscle,
Bone.
He slumps to the ground,
His life slipping away,
The fading of his bright eyes.
The leopard has died,
He is not the only one.
This must stop.
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Yo! its ME!!!!!!!!
I had to write this poem for English, and I thought I might as well post it! This is based on the Amur Leopard,which are going rapidly exctinct. They are really cool, and really cute! I posted a photo of one!
Later,
-Kat
