Lilieth leapt the electric fence,
Maybe, at the time, it made sense,
To pounce, claws extended, at a bird in flight,
And so, fall into freedom by accident.
Or maybe she made a deliberate jailbreak,
‘cause you gotta do what you gotta do,
To get outta the zoo.
Who knows what a lynx thinks?
But briefly, Lilieth the lynx got away
And was no longer on display,
She was no longer confined,
To be admired or to be ignored ,
By the curious, the awestruck, or the bored.
Peering through the wire.
Perhaps real freedom then kicked in,
With no food and drink provided,
Out in the woods and the fields and hills,
To eat she has to hunt and kill,
And at first maybe she has an edge,
As it must be centuries,
Since any lynx walked and stalked
Along these thickets and hedges,
So maybe some rabbits and mice,
Or a bird or two, turned just too late
And drew their last breaths,
Between the jaws of golden-eyed death.
Sadly, hunters can be hunted too,
And Lilieth could not be left to be free,
She was the ‘property’ of a zoo,
And large predators in Britain just cannot be,
Unless they’re members of the bourgeoisie.
Uncaught Lilieth caused official fear
Alleged to pose a risk “severe”,
So a killing bullet, not a tranquilising dart,
Was sent to stop this beauty’s heart.
But the wheel will turn, and justice will be done,
And free once more, Lilieth will
run,
Padding along on larger paws,
With longer, stronger, deadlier claws,
Reborn a larger, fiercer cat,
She’ll rip out the throats of bureaucrats.
