My name is Tiger

Tiger,
that is your name,
and it means
that you're not afraid of the dark.
That is my name too,
but I do not know
if we are the same.
I have seen you,
Tiger.
I have heard of your legends:
the three arrows at Sekigahara,
the six bullets at Iwo Jima.
Yes, I have heard
how they failed to take you down,
and I have heard of your mother
who fed you
so your hide would be strong,
and of the stories
about your father
who sang to you
when you were young
the echo's song
before he disappeared into echoes,
and so your mother raised you.
But on the nights
when you were alone,
I heard you singing
to no one in particular,
just yourself
as if it were not dark,
as if from your lungs
burned a hundred suns.
Tiger,
I would ask you what my name means
and if it is in anyway
like yours,
but I'm not always so brave
in the dark,
and I'm afraid of what others will say
if they say we are the same.