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.
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