In the green pond the tiger swims
Water awash with power and danger.
I bathe; a breeze stirs the heavy air;
Beyond, in the riot of trees and blooms,
Of honey and fecund rot,
You dance, O Lord of intoxication,
Lions and panthers in your train.

Your spoor in my dream.

[Michael Routery is a writer and poet living in Northern California. His work can be found in a wide variety of publications, including Beatitude: 50, Datura, and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina devotional anthologies, Written In Wine, Bearing Torches, Unbound, and Out of Arcadia. ]