God Filled the Earth With Tigers

God filled the earth with tigers;
men and beasts warring for blood.
He painted them with warning
signs—what scarlet spots! …In God
we do not doubt; God filled the

earth with tigers.

The Father blessed his daughters
in the order of His Good
Son, that we might all know good
and evil. And still we choose
sore fruit. God filled the earth with

tigers.

The spirit’s rushing waters
cannot stop Missouri silt
from covering the sins of
generations. What are we,
haunching here? God filled the earth

with tigers.

And you; somehow there were no
stripes to warn. I fell, a thorn,
and you rid your hide of
pain. But, Love, certain death waits
biding in the long, slow bleed--

God filled the earth with tigers.