The Wall Which Cannot Break

The Tamer and the Lion

Caked in the dirt of regret and remorse, my mane bid me to bow-ever weighing me down,
My proud head forced to wake and then stare at the ground!
I would bellow and growl, I would leer with a scowl!
How dare this cruel world-with its jesters and clowns,
With monopolized systems which murder the crowds!
Oh, how I longed to shake loose and to roar, for my screaming has bore
Something more than my howl.
I have scars in my skin which had bled so untreated that I still see red when I lie here defeated.
And none to my fault! I have begged, I have pleaded!
The thorn in my paw has been yanked, it's secreted the emotions I bottled to keep-
I can't keep it!
I am naked to sadness and fear, I shall cover it now in my rage! I'm revered-
I'm a lion, I'm the King of the wild, a doe or a child shall faint to my smile;
The hunters revile my presence, they flee from me running and looking back mile to mile!
My throne has been soiled, my blood has been boiled,
My kingdom reduced into dust.

Stepping on eggshells, my heel to my toe, I waltz slowly to gaze at the beast here below.
In his filth and his anger he reaps what he sows-
He makes nature his foe, he's cursed all that he knows.
How sad, this cruel world-with it's pressures and rules,
With it's masculine mask he must wield as a tool.
Oh, how he longs to just break down and cry, for his whimpers are met
With conditioning sighs.
He knows pain like us all but he's locked it away, so it seers through him now and sets fire to his veins.
And all to his fault, though he'd be shunned in seconds
If the thorn in his paw spawned the tiniest beckon for comfort or help,
He won't choose to be lessened.
He is blind to awareness and truth; he has swallowed what's real, pierced his heart with his tooth.
He's a lion, he's King of the wild, no creature alive cares for his grimace or smile.
The hunters kill his kind for their pelt and it's style, then flee to sell out for their part and their pile.
His throne has been soiled, his mind has been spoiled.
His kingdom reduced into dust.

Perhaps she assumes that my eyes, to the floor,
Have obstructed my ears, as I so clearly hear
Her approach to the door.
I am trapped, I am stored in this cage!
These four walls I have come to abhor feed my rage.
These cruel wires of metal contain me for days upon days-
I have less than a mile around left to graze.
Has she come now completing the plan-
Will I soon be deceased or just showcased to man?
And yet...which would I prefer, does my pride have more bearing,
More stance than my desire for life?
For my scepter and crown they have taught me to strive,
A lion cannot back down, a lion can't run or hide-
If I am stripped of my dignity is it wrong to survive?
The growing pressures all crawl down and eat me alive!
My decisions are stalled by invisible minds, my strength is invaded and rived..

Perchance his ears perk to my sly, serene steps,
Yet he shows no clear sign, he just silently whines.
I approach his distress.
He is hurt, just a mess to himself-
This captivity binds his lost soul beyond help-
So they say, yet I've come to awaken his luster for wealth;
That my warmth sinks like lead to his heart and can melt,
All the ice which has frozen his bones.
He is held by the limits of all he has known!
And yet...this cannot be seen, is his pride something learned;
Something by poor perspective derived?
If I might stroke his face and see light in his eyes
Maybe I can shed light on his overcast skies.
Yes, my love for this creature draws the thinnest of lines,
Yet the arrow is drawn, I must be careful inside.
My decisions are a dice game that death plays with life; my intentions undone by the knife?

She enters.
She renders my sparks to start embers.
The fire burns-heat now alive and beneath me,
Now burning my feet!
No desire to eat, but I am a defender, and her blood would make sure-
Yes, a sacrifice pure, that no master or mentor.
Could question my standing again-
I am counting to ten,
And then she will meet my bared teeth.
They will never again say I slept through defeat!
The seconds count down, she makes barely a sound.
And she crouches, she holds herself low to the ground...
Perhaps she's not here to demand my compliance,
Nor take from me life, with that all-too-known violence.
I was ready to pounce, yet my anger sunk down,
When I saw the sincerity below her eyelids.

I enter,
Thoughts centered to thwart the tormentor.
My memories-flashing like lights on a dashboard-
Now tracing my past.
I mustn't move fast, he has more than a temper, and my hands are no match,
If he reached and he snatched, I'm am so soft and tender...
A human won't live from the wounds.
I am gambling my tomb.
I take a deep breath and relax.
I can calm him by showing I come with no wrath.
I won't even breath, until he can receive
And I lower myself, I'm no threat to this beast.
His muscles were tense, but I noticed them loosen,
And soon his defenses seemed fully translucent.
I looked in his eyes, and to quite my surprise,
I was met with no monster, but merely a student.

She starts ever so slowly, with fingertips rolling
Like wheels of silk on my fur.
As her hand gently stroked down my mane, my world broke.
And something within me was stirred.
I'd forgotten the air. I'd forgotten to stare.
I'd lost all that I once understood.
I had traded true eyes for my power and pride,
And condemned my own life unaware.
Now the love was transforming my thoughts and reforming,
I felt like a new creature born.
I thought that the thorn in my paw was a scar,
Til the canvas of falsehood was torn.
She saw in me hope, and she came to invoke
Something more than I'd known to my soul.
Then she moved from my mane, brushed her nails on my face,
She was dead and I had no control.

I took both of my hands, and I took, strand by strand,
All the dirt from his struggling mane.
As the clumps were all shed, he could lift up his head,
And I witnessed his crippling pain.
He was new to this love. He was raised from the mud.
He had hardened himself to the Earth.
As he started to crumble, his values all tumbled,
A new man now welcomed his birth.
I had triumphed against his most vile pretenses,
Now he can make light of his life.
No more tortured existence or wayward persistence
To avenge his eviction of might.
Now with time to implore him, I sought to adore him.
I knew that he'd prove to be tame,
In an exit of grace, I caressed his smooth face,
And his power and weight crushed my frame.