John Dudek's work has appeared in The Southern Review, Cimarron Review, Grist, The Journal, Passages North, and elsewhere. He teaches writing at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His Instagram is @Welshrats.

BACK OF THE ENVELOPE

The Tiger

By JOHN DUDEK

Remember the warm bib smeared down the tiger’s chin too beautiful to be violence. Gone are these days.