It's the trap
that the hunters set
for tigers,
a hole dug deep
into the earth,
then covered with sticks
and stretched green weeds.
The unsuspecting
tiger falls
into the narrow pit
of their greed;
she rages and rushes
at the walls
but cannot find
her way out
until she is
a final heaving sigh,
a last gasp,
a butterfly,
and sails out,
a swallowtail,
above it all.
The men are staring
at the dull shell
of the tigress,
but not one notices
the butterfly's roar,
the earth breathing,
the sudden wild laughter
of the wind.