And in that moment I was a tiger,
my prey’s blood matted into my fur
as I carried you, dangling between
carved fangs, afraid and afraid.
 
The days passed maliciously since our lips
had met in comfort; but here I was deafened
and defeated by the way you stroked my hair,
fingers braided into tangles and knots.
 
And in that moment I was a tiger,
and I kissed the earth and her leaves.
the greens dissolved on my tongue,
the meat and the veins as they fell from the sky
 quivering at my sight.
 
Spirituality sang in cycles, drifting
and wavering. Excuses always came easy to us.
We left each other in favor of a silicone
meditation, where thoughts ran endlessly
and affectionate rivers dry.
 
But in that moment I was a tiger,
and I danced to the jungle’s songs,
a humming rhythm as you fell into my grasp;
limb by limb, consumed.
 
Fugitive, you said from between my teeth.
 my tiger teeth.
 
And in that moment I loved
And in that moment I loved
And in that moment I loved.

3B
Wednesday, March 15, 2017 // The Statement 
Tigress

Gaze

In a place of space

BY ZOYA GURM, LSA Freshman

ILLUSTRATION BY
CAROLINE KIM, LSA Junior

BY MILES GROFSOREAN, LSA Senior

He went to fill the space again once more,
Noticing there was more room than before;
 
The light was gone that made his life so keen,
Before the boy had reached the hollow scene.
 
He stretched his hands as far as they would go,
He threw his love as far as he could throw;
 
But she had gone her way beyond his gaze,
And he was left to drift under a daze.
 
“All must be,” he cried within his heart,
“Whether they live together or apart.”
 
The thought of life and death seemed all the same,
Once he had acquiesced, and laid his claim,
 
And more so contrasts between nil and naught,
Seemed to be more worthy of his thought.
 
But before he could plunge into the dark,
It caught his hand and showed what it had marked
 
Forth from its depths the planets did expand,
A bounty more than any could demand;
 
Of beasts and fish and birds, the day and night,
Of love and hate and peace, the dark and light.
 
She cupped his cheeks, and brought his eyes to hers,
To bear witness. Suddenly, in a blur
 
The herald of the void at once let go
Of his hand and quickly started to grow
 
On and on, this way and that, ‘twas obscene!
Till only space between her dust was seen.
 
But when the boy looked up and fixed his eyes,
He saw her glittering ash adorn the sky;
 
Her spirit thusly kindred to the stars,
Felt almost as near as it did afar.
 
And so it was that she led him to see,
He too was from the nothingness as she;
 
A truth that shook his being to the bone,
So that he would no longer walk alone.
 
“All must be,” the boy hummed in his heart,
“Whether they live together or apart.”