Caged

• Amelie Lattik, Grade 7
• Poetry
• 2018

A crimson Autumn sunset
Is obscured by blank metal bars.
A captive lynx stares longingly
At newly appearing stars.

Its eyes reflect a moonrise
As the open sky turns black.
A huge world, but a tiny cage
The lynx can’t break free and go back

To the days where it stood on mountains peak
With a view as far as the sea.
To the days when its colourful spirit
Could soar as the lynx roamed free.

A person appears out of nowhere.
Scared, the lynx begins to shake.
They smile – an evil, sharp-toothed grin –
“What a nice fur rug you’ll make.”