HOLD THAT TIGER
By Chloe Wilson
That morning, in the mirror,
I’d pulled my draping cheek-skin upwards.
I had shone, taut and foreign,
the gums and incisors
glistering with saliva.
While evening and the show crowds gathered,
I watched him. The chain glinked
as he traced his circle,
always stalking - even the grass
shivered under his breath.
Entering the ring, he beckoned
me to dance, laid one
paw on each shoulder
and rolled me in the dirt.
His mouth opened wide
as bedclothes, and I scented
the iron on his tongue
while he hinged his hips
and the crowd thought I was dying.
Tigers like to dine alone.
I knew this; yet stayed a moment
too long, waiting
for an invitation
and was not all that surprised
to find a joint of meat missing
from my thigh.
They hunt by pressing you
to their hearts, then
kicking out your insides
in a casual sweep.
There’s the danger.
Not, after all, in the teeth
but beneath the tail,
which, like a finger,
searches out any pleasures
the front end may have missed.
This one slid
his tongue along the contours
of my bowel,
sniffing like a sommeliier.
That night, he cleaned himself
thoroughly, that supple
tongue spreading like a stingray
under the nails
and detailing the groin;
ignoring the crowd
nobly, as they shook
the metal bars
that keep them safe.
‘Hold That Tiger’ is featured in The Mermaid Problem, Chloe Wilson’s first collection that has been published as part of the APC’s 2010 New Poets Series, more details here.
A place where children (or students) can learn about poetry and participate actively with poetry through mentorships, excursions and visits to the poetry centre and its poetry collection for children.
The Almeida Collection will be launched at the Victorian State Library (Experimedia Section) on Monday 31st, 2009, and then remain there to be used as an interactive resource for children and students.
If you would like to include your books in this collection, please contact the Centre at paul@australianpoetrycentre.org.au
The collection consists of:
1. Playtime Rhymes for Little People
2. The Sun in Me
3. Someone I Like
4. Blessings From Many Faiths and Cultures
5. The Barefoot Book of Classic Poems
6. Just Like That and Other Poems
7. Scar Revision (Tracy Ryan)
8. Southern Edge (Barbara Temperton)
9. Shades of the Sublime and Beautiful (John Kinsella)
10. Aussie Legends (Tom Baddeley)
11. Songs for My Dog (Max Fatchen) x 2
12. A Kick in the Head, an everyday guide to poetic forms
13. Waiting for the Doors to Open (Holly Sievers)
14. Complete Book of Pukey Poems
15. Poetry Speaks, a Festival of Poems
16. More Poems to Make You Puke
17. Poets and Poetry
18. Appreciating Poetry
19. Enjoy the Earth Gently
20. Enjoying More Poetry
21. The Untamed Fire x 2
22. Blue Light clear atoms
23. Enjoying Poetry
24. Poems by Young Australians (2003)
25. Poems by Young Australians (volume 2)
26. Poems by Young Australians (volume 3)
27. Poems by Young Australians (volume 4)
28. Poems by Young Australians (volume 5)
29. Poems by Young Australians (volume 6)
30. What is a Huggle? (x 2)
31. Stick Your Neck Out (x 2)
32. Les Murray’s Collected Poems
33. The Golden Bird (Robert Adamson)
34. The Biplane Houses (Les Murray)
35. Les Murray Selected Poems
36. By the River – Steven Herrick
37. Collected Poems for Children – Ted Hughes
38. Love that Dog – Sharon Creech
39. Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy – Michael Rosen
40. Naked Bunyip Dancing – Steven Herrick
41. By the River (Steven Herrick)
42. Bubble Gum Trouble and other Giggle poems
43. Word Up
44. The Great Artscape
45. The Australian Twelve Days of Christmas
46. A book for Kidz (CJ Dennis)
47. A Bush Christmas (CJ Dennis)
48. Giggles & Niggles (Jenny Erlanger)
49. Love That Dog (Sharon Creech)
50. Mustard, Custard, Grumble Belly and Gravy (Michael Rosen)
51. Bubble Gum Trouble and Other Giggle Poems (Helen Ross)
52. Word Up (compilation)
53. The Great Artscape: A Cross Generation Adventure of Artistic Proportions
54. Tall Tales of the Wild West (And a Few Short Ones): a Humorous Collection of Cowboy Poems and Songs (Eric Ode)
55. Rathwhiskers and Me: a Powerful Tale of Survival on the Goldfields (Lorraine Marwood)
56. Pearl Verses the World (Sally Murphy)
57. Star Jumps (Lorraine Marwood)
58. Bubble Trouble (Margaret Mahy)
59. Here’s a Little Poem: a Very First Book of Poetry (Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters)
60. A Foot in the Mouth: Poems to Speak, Sing and Shout (Paul B. Janeczko)
61. Book of Children’s Poetry (x 2)
62. Mother Goose (x 2)
63. The Spoken Word Revolution
64. Poetry Speaks to Children
65. My Hippo has the Hiccups
66. Poetry Speaks Expanded
67. Hip Hop Speaks to Children
68. Nonsense Botany and Nonsense Alphabets
69. Nonsense Songs and Stories
70. Australian Made Poetry & Stories
71. Dialogues & Sketches
72. Monologues
73. This & That
74. Bits & Pieces
75. Odds & Ends
76. Definitely Not a Nursery Rhyme
77. Jazzabaz Goes to the Speech Gym
78. Quickly You’re On
79. Cautionary Tales
80. Bring on the Dancing Men and Other Verses
81. A Pizza the Size of the Sun (Jack Prelutsky)
82. Knock at a Star (X.J. Kennedy and Dorothy M Kennedy)
83. Falling Down the Page (Georgia Heard)
84. Good Luck Gold and Other Poems (Janet S Wong)
85. I am Wings (Ralph Fletcher)
86. Peacock (Valerie Worth)
87. Neighborhood Odes (Gary Soto)
88. Hailstones and Halibut Bones (Mary O’Neill)
89. Countdown to Summer - A Poem for Every Day of the School Year (J Patrick Lewis)
90. Dinosaurs (Lee Bennett Hopkins)
91. This is Just to Say (Joyce Sidman)
92. Insectlopedia (Douglas Florian)
93. In Daddy’s Arms I am Tall (African Americans Celebrating Fathers)
94. Celebrating America (National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution)
95. The Place my Words are Looking For (Paul B Janeczko)
96. A Light in the Attic (Shel Silverstein)
97. If I were in Charge of the World (Judith Viorst)
98. Back to Class (Mel Glenn)