The lion roared from out his shadowed lair

And so the ground beneath me quaked and shook;

My chest reverberating from the blare

Resounding forth from out that thorn-lined nook.

I saw the jaundice eyes and grim visage

The ivory fangs that mirrored dreadful fear,

With every sinew taut, a predator’s barrage

As if hell’s fury soon would strike me here.

My aging double stood in sole defense,

Stark pupils wide, throat dry, all time recessed,

Adrenaline now stoking every sense—

No breath to beg, repent, or sins redress.

He burst at last from out that fearsome cave;

The rifle bucked with but one soul to save.