A Tiger Adrift, a reading

Turn on your speakers the audio is in the author note.

A Tiger Adrift

A Tiger Adrift is published in Strays and available at the link below or through your local bookstores and libraries.

Strays is a collection of two extended narratives and more than forty love-themed poems, exploring the meaning of romantic love while we have it and attempting to find the healing after its loss. Found within these pages is the short story Gutter Dog, the novelette Ginni, and the poems False Skin, the Boy Who Wore Clothes, and the Black-Wit Reveller.

Author's Note

Reviews

[annie lee]

I really liked this. I think your use of typeface and point changes was integrated seamlessly and intensified the tension. This made me think of "The Life of Pi" and the helplessness the tiger sometimes suffered. I like the cadence of this; it seems to roll like the waves, billow up and down like the swells of the ocean. It does not appear there will be a happy ending for the kitten/tiger. Is that your intention? Or is this a metaphor? Like a fish out of water? Like anyone thrown into a completely alien environment and madly trying to survive? So the happy ending is not a duty of the poem, but the duty of he who struggles. Am I close?

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Minichinz, as always your reviews are spot on. Really, I look forward to them.

read moreThank you, Minichinz, as always your reviews are spot on. Really, I look forward to them.

The whole Life of Pi things is an unavoidable comparison, but not a Tiger Adrift's inspiration. Its inspiration comes from someone who is far more dear to me, dear enough to inspire my poetry. lol. I'm not sure which of us is the tiger.

Will our dear kitten have a happy ending? Who knows? But swim she/he must.

[Pryde Foltz]

Perhaps those icy shores will thaw.

[Keith]

What a nice little poem, you had me cheering that tiger on. On another level, you seem to have explored a situation where the bold and the mighty can be not so bold or mighty. That powerful tiger now just a kitten in that situation.

Great imagery and flow, well done.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful review and yes, that poor little kitten needs cheering on. P

[Perkele.7885]

Reminds me of a time when I fell overboard off a Navy destroyer during a bad storm in the North Atlantic Ocean.
I'll bet your kitten here is a better swimmer than I ever was.
I'll thank you for my revisiting this memory this time. I enjoyed your poem much more than my memory!

[Pryde Foltz]

Glad to here that. Thanks for the read and your comments.

[Brandon S. Whitten]

Would make a wonderful story for children. Beautifully written and a splendid read. Thank you for sharing, it was inspiring.

[Pryde Foltz]

I am glad you got so much from it. Thank you, Brandon, for taking the time to read and comment.

[Brandon S. Whitten]

You are welcome, Ms.Pryde

[SteveB]

Very nice. The repetition drove home the urgency and while I am not normally a fan of typeface shifts or other things that can be turned into gimmicks, to me the decreasing typeface of the repeated lines toward the end gave a stark image of the tiger slowly sinking, unable to swim any more.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thanks Steve. I tend to agree with you. I had been thinking about the idea of the Tiger adrift in the great big ocean as a metaphor for maybe half a day and then the poem in its entirety came in a rush. (Hey there's that metaphor again.) It kind of wrote itself, including the typeface--the swells of the wave and the decreasing typeface the sinking. Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment.

[SteveB]

It was my pleasure. For me the typeface shifrt worked and as I said I normally don't like that. The last line for megave a sense of fighting the good fight depsite knowing it will fail - the tiger will drown but will roar again in another place/dimension etc.

[Ry]

This is a very interesting poem. It has elements of mystery and fear, but at the same time it's adorable. I like it! Good job!

-A

[Pryde Foltz]

Thanks Annalyn. And thanks for reading.

[Baby Ricochet]

HA! Good poem. I like the repetitive use of the line "swim little kitten swim" It gives the poem a sense of urgency. Great job

[Pryde Foltz]

Urgency and desperation. Because, what happens if that little kitty stops? Glad you liked it.

[Sami Khalil]

A very interesting and lovely write. And you said you can't write poetry( smiling ...right ).
Is it too wordy like you have said on one of my poems . Perhaps yes and perhaps not...:)

[Pryde Foltz]

Cheers Sami. No poetry isn't really my medium, seriously. But you ignore a gift from the muses at you own peril.

And it really only is the one poem of yours, and as you oh-so subtly pointed out (smile) I may not be as familiar with the type of poetry. However, I stand my assertion (arms across my chest) And no, I've look. Above not wordy, but I am fast and free with my metaphorical axe, and so I'll keep you posted. (My reply, however, very wordy.)

[Sami Khalil]

I was just teasing you and messing with you ( using your comment on one of my poems...lol ) just to bring a smile . You are welcome any time...:)

[Pryde Foltz]

Oh, I know. You have a fantastic day.

[Sami Khalil]

You too...:)

[MashSaad]

i really enjoy how you played with the size of the font and the overall structure of the poem. Very e e cummings of you.
Other than that, good poem. Gives the reader this sense that that gnawing you mention is within them as they struggle with life everyday.

[Pryde Foltz]

I think I may have to read some EE cummings. Believe it or not, have not, but I am sure that someone who has has unwittingly inspired me. Glad you enjoyed the piece and thanks for the read.

[Jack...]

This to me could mean any number of things, I understand what it may be eluding to, but I see life and the struggles that come with it, keeping our head above water, never stopping as life, while we stand on this earth, is perpetual, and eventually either finding the shore or not..

Pryde, I really enjoyed this piece. It seems I enjoy most of what you write. Keep writing my friend,

[Pryde Foltz]

Ahhh... Thanks Jack. Glad you enjoyed and the meaning you found went beyond just what I had intended. Funny thing, the way that happens sometimes.