Poster Image
$20
Item#: 2006SYR14
Purchase Details
11x17-inches, printed on heavy weight (100-pound) Hammermill cover paper. We package each print with a piece of chipboard in a clear plastic sleeve.
You also receive…
An information page with photos of the artist and poet, and hand-written comments from each.
Medium- and large-format posters are available by custom order. Contact us for details.
Poem Inspiration Location
Tigers Caged in Glass
poster information
Description
Tigers caged in glass
Stare back in equal wonder
Whose gaze is captive?
I'm a member of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo all the time, and I am fascinated by the Siberian tigers. I think they're the most beautiful creatures. You can't help but look at that face. It's soft and serene, and yet you know it's powerful and deadly at the same time.
It's like everything in life. Everything has a facade. You have to see and appreciate its beauty, but you have to be aware that there's always danger involved.
When I'm looking through that glass at the tiger, I can almost touch him. The only thing separating us is this thin glass panel. I'm admiring his strength and beauty, the muscular features, and the intensity in the eyes. And he's looking straight back at me the same way. It's like we can't take our eyes off each other.
Creatures have always been magnetic for me, and I've always been fascinated with cats. If I wasn't allergic to them, I'd probably have one. Their aloofness appeals to me. Some people it puts off. But for me, it means they're still wild, whereas a dog is not.
In this instance, I had a picture in my head that related to my daughter, way back when she was a two-year-old. We took her to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo, and she sat on the edge of the mountain lion cage. It was the first big cat she had ever seen, and she was absolutely amazed.
For this image, I went to the zoo and to the tiger cage, and revisited that memory of a child's love and fascination for nature. It took me back to when my daughter was two and further still, back to my own wonderment as a child.