Staring at the tiger,
he and I, face to face.
If not for bars he'd hurt me,
in another time and place.
He's isolated from freedom,
in his eyes, so much hate.
His freedom snatched from him
by this black steel gate.
So strong, yet so helpless,
he stares at me, so cute.
I feel sympathetic remorse,
and my ears alter to mute.
I drift into his eyes,
a land of yellow and green.
I see what he sees now,
an audience so mean.
In his brain I see
a gift that we can give.
A life he's always longed for,
the life he used to live!
Back behind the bars,
I unlock, and set him free.
With another loving tiger
he very soon will be.
Off into the hills
he runs, and runs, and runs.
Then out come the zoo keepers
with their tranquilizer guns.
The tiger's eyes,
no longer filled with hate.
For that animal,
the zoo keepers are too late.