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.

[SHEEMA HUQ]

A nice approach, I like the way the narrator eggs on the kitten ad the structure of this great poem works finely.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Sheema.

[Diana]

"An island of one?
nothing to gnaw at but your insides, and so you must
swim little kitten, swim ..."-

This reminds me of the way we tears ourselves down throughout life's difficulty journeys.

"swim little kitten, swim
swim little kitten, swim
swim little kitten, swim "-
Is the kitten becoming smaller, drifting further away (so seeming to become smaller), or feeling smaller, or all of the above? I wonder. The whole thing made we wonder actually.

I very much enjoyed this one. Thanks for sharing.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank for the read, Diana.

[Glen Yumang Manese]

Pryde - the way your narrative voice goes with this gives the words life...as I followed along within the lines...you capture us more than if we had just plain read this for our interpretation...thanks for the invite...I see this was written in July...so I see you're going back and adding a bit of a touch...

[Pryde Foltz]

Thanks Glen. Yeah I miss some of these older ones.

[Glen Yumang Manese]

You're welcome...are you going to make a book with your narrative voice...I might do so with the next collection with the book: Luna & the Ra...just lots of time and a good voice to read them...you think Morgan Freeman is available pro bono...hehehe....good night...I just read 277 pages and made the final editing tonight...I've got a headache the size of Alaska...I'd accept the size of Texas but not big enough...

[Pryde Foltz]

Trying to find an agent for the Wisp right now and then compilation of poems and stories. You get some rest and that headache will head for the hills. Thanks again, Glen.

[icelandicblue]

The tiger has been displaced and must bravely seek his way through the foreign landscape. I feel he was thrown without warning and now he can only depend on himself to survive. We all must meow or whimper when we are strangers in a strange land and hope that we can find the solid ground so that we can roar once again. A very unusual poem and a thought provoking one to boot.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Icyblue.

[Ayvid N]

A Tiger is a Tiger only in his own Jungle. A stalwart is a stalwart only in his own domain. Whatever we are, we are in our own comfort zones. Outside of it, we are nothing!

Pryde, you have a great message here, brilliantly crafted...

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Divya. I think it is the favourite of all I've done.

[Ayvid N]

You are welcome. It is my favorite too.

[Michael G. Smith]

This reminded me of the Life of Pi also. May I inquire as to the process in which you came up with this idea? It is quite unique. As I read it I kept seeing the kitten paddling wildly.

[Pryde Foltz]

Yes, there is some similarities to the Martel, but the meaning came from something very personal to me. This goes out to a friend who identified with the tiger as a symbol of strength and animal of protection so to speak, again similar to Martel, but as I was writing it I realized it was for me too. Even a tiger is but a kitten in the grand ocean and so what is one person in the universe. This was one of those rare pieces that came almost as a whole. Not much process.

[Michael G. Smith]

Dust in the wind.

[redflutterby]

Perseverance hopefully gets us to shore. Haven't we all felt like that little kitten..half drowned and freezing cold. Barely able to keep our head above water. Really love this one!!

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Red.

[Pryde Foltz]

A tiger so big and ferocious but compared to the size and strength of the ocean, a tiger is no more than a kitten. Kind of questions if there are any tigers really in this big ole universe. Thank you for taking a read and a listen.

[rutherford]

Effective in that it creates a tension to the point of anxious discomfort. I found it uncomfortable to read to the end. Excellent contrast between the a smooth hull and sharp claws. Your use of the shrinking font I took to be that the tiger kitten is getting weaker and weaker. Your success is in delivering this tension and struggle to the reader.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you, Rutherford.

[Miss Marlette]

This is such a motivating read. She will swim, she will struggle and come up a winner against all odds. A tiger. The poem flows effortlessly and made for a greatly interesting read. Impressive work.

[Pryde Foltz]

Thank you for you kind words. PreityPen.

[Miss Marlette]

You are welcome :)