I don’t want to be loved growled the panther
As it dug its claws into the ground
And raked them before me in anger
I will never forget the sound
And it marked upon me a deep scar
That I wear on my heart to this day
A point of end and a pinch of sand
And a pain that time won’t wear away

I reach out to the sunset pleading with God
Please stop this bitter wrath
I have inside an enemy and enemy I hath
Torn from limb to limb I cry and beg for mercy please
Why love hath brought me to this place
Of darkened earth, limbless trees

With hope I fade and fight the winds
To walk anyplace elsewhere
On shaking knees and roughened soles
Oh what kind of home is here?
I ask the winds as I do bleed
They cry back softly to my side
As you shall follow we shall lead.

I stumbled at the thought of that
And wondered what the winds did mean.
For the winds my soul did sail to dark
Every footstep dragged a mark
But wait, what gate or place was here
For me to crawl to in my fear
So that I could sleep safe that night
I shall consider this abode
For the night was getting black and cold.
Until this growl came from above.

Leave this place it said enraged
Or you shall find yourself encaged
Between my teeth and claws and hate
You do not belong here at this gate
This gate is mine – you shall not pass
This place is secret and only I
Know of this place thus you must die

The big cat - wild eyed - stared me down
And for a second there was no sound
I knew this creature from before
This panther who guarded this old door

My wounded heart did start to pulse
And throbbed in pain so did repulse
I nearly fell to hands and feet
And scrambled back to try retreat
I knew this creature, it would kill
Without pleasure and without thrill
For I was now his enemy
As he was to be to me

I had once tried to love this creature
It had sniffed my hands down by the oak
Yet in its eyes no trust, no pleasure
I tried to coax it and softly spoke
And it sat and listened for a time
But sadly love I could not provoke
And so I read to it a loving rhyme
It lowly growled and turned its back
Yet came back sometimes in the night
To greet me and for food to track

With grace and beauty by god did right I
Wished my new friend would come on back
I thought there was a beauty there
Such power and such grace
But something more did stir me still
A kindness on its face
A sort of kindness I did trust
And reached out to pet its side
Yet that is when daggers fell
Into the ground – I cried

And so the story goes from there
The darkness and the winds appeared
With soiled skin and matted hair
Walking on the earth so seared
I did not know this place was there
So strange and lost this was to me
Moving forward my mind moved back
To that dark and painful memory

As he stood on the cliff bearing fangs deep in hate
I beheld the beauty of this great cat
And immediately then I knew my fate
And preferred to remember him as that
As my friend by the oak with the soft eyes and face
That seemed so dispassionate so
I wished it the best as it raced down the hill
With its eyes and it skin all aglow
As this time I would be the one it would kill
This was how it was all meant to go

This moment so strange, I knew it my last
I had once loved this creature and chanced it loved me
But now that all of that lied in the past
All the sadness swept in like the sea

I did not feel pain except in my heart
As the last thoughts seeped from my mind
What agony then came to me was simply left behind.
And all that lay of me was left just pieces strewn apart
My memories and hopes were gone, but forgiveness in my heart.