The Jaguar

The Jaguar

I

The Jaguar in all its clinging, defiant grace Explodes across that cage, Challenging the hollowed walls Of men’s constrained lives. Flesh like a wrecking ball, A thrilling beauty, it devours The air around in a burst, Devours them whole with its stare.

II

It sprawls, spiraling on a spurt, And paces inevitable syllables, In bursts and flashes, each scream Unraveling written upon all of us. A heart like hot blood, What ecstasy lies behind the bars? And I shudder, hoping to meet Heels shoved beneath the fray.

III

What does it open? This stylish dart, A pounce preserved in angular shapes, That steals shadows, darting, Rolling in rapturous noise. But all the creeping wilderness stops, Within an eye’s deadly perception.

• Ted Hughes