On four soft padded paws walks the Queen of the Night.
Though her movements are agile her footsteps are light.
     But this solitary feline has nothing to fear  
     And is driven by hunger to search out the deer.

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With great caution this beautiful predator prowls,
With her sharp eyes as piercing as any large owl’s.   
     She will study her prey and then move without sound, 
     Padding softly, adeptly across the soft ground.  

 

This nocturnal killer, this graceful she-cat,                    
Under cover of darkness will face her combat.  
      She will work on her own to achieve her defeat 
      For without a good kill she will surely not eat. 

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Now the deer hear a rustle which causes them fear.
Is it only the breeze through the grass that they hear?  
   So the leopard stops moving, becomes statuesque,
   Though her heart now is pounding within her strong breast.

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Their pursuer's keen eyes search the herd as they graze
And, with patience, she hides in the moon’s lucid rays.   
      She’s intent on her quarry and moves yet again -
      This sure-footed huntress of the African plain. 

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The deer sense a movement and take off in flight,
Beneath silvery stars in the shadows of night.
      But it's too late for one as the Queen now attacks   
      Whilst the rest of herd care not to look back. 

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There’s a meal for tonight for this solitary beast 
And up in the tree there’s a clandestine feast.   
     In her elegant coat of rosettes on brown fur,  
    She will finish her meal and then lie back and purr.

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Copyright on all my poems 

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Note:  Leopard spots are called rosettes because they resemble the shape of a rose.

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