Burning Bright


If I could be friends with any animal I'd like to be a tiger's friend. He and
I would lie in the sun.

Then at night the tiger would pace around the campsite, guarding a wide
arc around the fire, beside which I slept.

My pillow - made from woven-together cloths from the clothes I took
with me from when I was a princess.

The pillow would be a crazy quilt of silks and saffrons, fading with sun
and many cares.

Every morning the tiger would yawn with incredible silent strength and
flex his powerful shoulders. Cat yoga.

I would wake up, yawn, and stretch my own scrawny shoulders until one
day I would wake up and I would be the tiger and the tiger would be me.

One personality, part child, part tiger.