What metaphors are used in Ode to a Drum by Yusef Komunyakaa?

The gazelle, an animal of prey, is dead at the beginning of the poem, but by the poem's conclusion, through the transformational powers of the drum maker, it has taken on the form of a panther, one of the most feared predators on the African continent. Likewise, African Americans long held down through years of racism and oppression can metaphorically rise up, not as the "hunted" but as proud "hunters," like panthers.