They told me it was a tiger.
Lying there still in the hot sun.
It made many people stop.
I put up shop where the cage was parked.
With my back to the door that caught the sun.
I am the girl who sells the milk candy between colorful rice paper.
Every day I must sell enough to pay for the bus home and then some.
So I put my stool next to the animal with my basket on my knee.
I got to look at that tiger all day.
We both baked next to black metal barriers.
That tiger was from the circus that came to town.
The men are supposed drive his cage around to advertise.
But they parked illegally and went to drink beer.
The tiger was tired from the heat and went in slow motion.
Sometimes it raised its eyes to look at the people.
It didn’t do much, just sort of waited for the day to be over.
I could tell that tiger was me.
