Can a leopard abjure its spots,
Or as another animal be reborn?
Can one jungle beast become another,
Change heredity inborn?
Can nature its own laws reverse
And unnaturally transform
The most basic instincts in each,
Not simply their outward form.
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Lions other than lions can never be;
as kings, they have duties to perform.
They must roar and snarl,
let the colour of their pelt inform
the forest of their supremacy.
Why should lions agree to be shorn
Of their commanding mane,
To become weak objects of scorn?
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Lions laws of the jungle make,
Its Constitutions suborn.
They do not need another coat,
a president’s garb. It is too time-worn
to sit comfortably on epaulettes.
Other jungle cats must their demands reform,
and accept that this lion king
will not discard his uniform.
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Published in WHEN BUSH COMES TO SHOVE & OTHER WRITINGS. |
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