top of page

Is this Goodbye ~ Amur Leopard

Writer: Chris NashChris Nash

The orange flecks of this fur

Are the last flickers of light,

Before you pass out in that abyss,

And leap the gorge that hangs

gaping over the separation of worlds.


I live among the flawless stars

In their crystal constellations,

I live among the hordes of dust

Kicked heaven-high by Timor’s horsemen.


The pure mercy of my kills

Flaps prayers in tattered flags,

The compassion of my claws

daubs blood over virgin snow,

The clean pity of my butchery



Spins mountain sacral chakra

In the frail-indestructible web of Taiga

Where I prowl death, my bowl of skull

a leopard monk to your meditations.




Notes:

The Amur Leopard inhabits an area of Taiga between south-east Russia and north-east China,  an area of about 7,000 km (2,700 sq mi) today. It is Critically Endangered. Only 90 individuals are thought to still survive.


Taiga is a type of natural environment.  It consists largely of snow forests.



Comments


bottom of page