“In High Places”

The name of this poem was borrowed from a track on the 1983 Mike Oldfield album ‘Crises’ – an apt reference to the times we are living in now. In 2019, a report from IPBES stated that up to One Million Species were at risk of extinction if we kept on the same course, which became the impetus for my Endangered Species poetry and website. This is an older poem, now published on The One Million Poetry.

The Snow Leopard is one of those species facing a future we must find a way to avert. It is perhaps the fiercest of all the Felines in my humble opinion, based on the video below – an episode that is referenced in the poem!

FULL POEM

In High Places

Ounce upon a time - Panthera Uncia

True Apex Predator, no mistake

Lived in High Places

Sure footed - don’t fall

Through the roof of the World

…

Snow-capped peaks home

Leopard named for the snow

Treads lightly as a ghost

Big furry cat to humans

Stuff of nightmares to the prey

Will take the plunge, bones adapted

Falling down the mountain

Meal in mouth, will not let go

Quiet, unassuming, shy

Haunts the stairway to heaven

Invisible against the rocks

Below the snow line

Not the biggest cat

Fearsome in its lack of fear

Just as much a match

For any other Panthera

Cousin in courage

Sibling in stealth

Family in ferocity

At one with the snow and rock

In the high Himalayas

The upthrust peaks

Of a Teutonic collision

Still rising above the subduction

Pushing up into the sky

Holding it in its place

Where will this cat go

As the snow retreats

And the glacier melt

With them it is receding

The Leopard needs its home

Capped with ice, dusted with snow

A cold zone, complete with Blue Sheep

And Argali and Ibex to eat

Can’t go too much higher

To stay in its comfort zone

Everything it needs depends

On the needs of its prey

Being met and being assured

Life and death drama

Must be ready for flight

If the ghost materialises

Explodes out of nowhere

Unwarned, unseen until too late

Over the edge may be the only choice

The only option, the only leveller

The ultimate wager

Though luck most likely

Took flight in fright

Now you’re free falling

Sharing the fate

Multiple impacts imminent

Which can survive

The uncontrolled fatal descent

Unless cushioned in soft snow drifts

Much like the No Go Logo

Snow also must not go

Long may it snow

To keep the Leopard

True to its name

Perfectly evolved and equipped

Wears its own snowshoes

Carries its own balancing tail

Quite a high-wire act

Breathes in more of the thin air

Has the thickest cat hair of all

(Let’s not ask about fur balls)

Agility and balance must surpass

That of its agile quarry

This is no cute and cuddly cat

No matter how much we’re smitten

By nature, it’s a killer kitten

It has nothing to fear

In its rooftop world

Except what we’re doing to it

And when we move in

Bringing tasty and abundant prey

Bringing conflict into the silent peaks

Where once used to be

Only the sound of the wind

Onrushing, sometimes howling

You won’t hear a growl, this cat can’t

But sometimes a high-pitched jowl

Pierces the still silence, reaches the ear

If you know what you’re hearing

Snow Leopards are here

Long may they echo

Bound through the snow

In hot pursuit, then melt back

Into their surroundings

You can’t see them

But the ghosts are watching

Ethereally