A Bengal Tiger Caged

I finally found you in a box
Within your hidden maze
Tell me why you often are
Indifferent to my gaze?
You’ve been so distant lately
I never feel you near
Your presence is more ghostlike
Like a shadow in a mirror

I used to feel you passing by
Like a Bengal tiger caged
About the house or garden
While you stomped and mutely raged
And unknown people only saw
A cheerful visage staged

My life is so compact now
With nothing left to chance
The odds of you just slipping in
Are more than happenstance
I sleep a lot less deeply
I’m sure you do as well
While I awake within your world
Do you awake in hell?

I used to feel you passing by
Like a Bengal tiger caged
About the house or garden
While you stomped and mutely raged
And sometimes people simply saw
Your spiteful visage played

I finally put you in a box
Within my hidden maze
I'll tell you why I often am
Indifferent to your gaze
I've been more distant lately
I never want you near
My presence is more ghostlike
Like a shadow in a mirror

I used to feel you passing by
Like a Bengal tiger caged
About the house or garden
While you stomped and mutely raged
And sometimes people finally saw
Your spiteful visage played

My life is more compact now
With nothing left to chance
The odds of you just slipping in
Are less than happenstance
I sleep a lot more deeply
I'm sure you do as well
While I awake within my world
Do you awake in hell?

Do you awake in hell?