THE HUNTER & THE HUNTED



Through the midnight forest
The hunter and the hunted run,
Trying to outrun each other
For their own goals before the sun.

When the sun slowly rises
The hunter can move in for the kill,
Hoping soon to bag his quarry
Just to get a sadistic thrill.

Running, bobbing, weaving fast
The hunted hopes to survive the night,
Yet he knows his hopes will fade rapidly
With the coming of daylight.

The hunted knows that come the sun
He cannot hide so easily in the light,
But with the hunter on his trail
Can he hope to survive until twilight?

The hunter stops, listens, hoping
To hear movement in the verdant green,
Hoping to find a trail of broken branches
To show him where his prey has been.

Loping through the darkened forest
Tom-toms booming within his chest,
Fearful of ever standing soon
Yet by daylight, he'll have to rest.

The sounds of the hunter
And the sounds of the hunted,
But which one are you
When the race is finally run?

THE END
© Copyright 2021 Philip Roberts
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

About this poem

Written a month back, based on a haiku poem I wrote c.1975.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Written on August 04, 2021

Submitted by PHIL_ROBERTS on September 03, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

54 sec read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCB DEFE XGFG BGXG XXDX AHXH CXXB XXX
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 972
Words 182
Stanzas 8
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3

Phil Roberts

I turn 65 on the 31st of January 2022. I love cats, rock music, and horror fiction and poetry more…

All Phil Roberts poems | Phil Roberts Books

7 fans

Discuss the poem "THE HUNTER & THE HUNTED" with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "THE HUNTER & THE HUNTED" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/108409/the-hunter-&-the-hunted>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    12
    days
    17
    hours
    27
    minutes

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Who wrote the poem One Art?
    A E. E. Cummings
    B Elizabeth Bishop
    C Elizabeth Barrett Browning
    D Sylvia Plath