The Skin-And-Bones Lion

You are a lion.
A roaring, boring, run-of-the-mill,
Flour covered lion.
You have hair in every direction,
North-east to north-west.
A chip and a stain on your killing-teeth
And blood on your snarled-lips.
You are a lion

But your roar doesn't come from your throat
Your voice box doesn't
Hurricane-rumble, marble-box tumble,
Trip-and-fall stumble
Its way through a vibration.
There is a washing machine in your stomach
And it is yelling for more.

Because yesterday,
On a run-of-the-flour-mill hunt,
You felt a change in your prey,
And now it is your enemy.
A prayer has less world-destroying,
Life-toying, scent-cloying,
Fat.
So instead of eating,
You start to pray your body away.

But all flesh is dead-grass
And in yours a safari is thriving
You can feel meercat-feet across your stomach
Tails, monkey-clinging,
Self-worth killing,
Wrapped around your thighs.
Your wrists are too big,
And you can't stop noticing.

Now, you run to catch up with your prey,
But your prey is the flesh
That you elephant-skin lug,
Hyena-laugh tug around on your bones.
Now, your slasher-fangs rip into
Flesh you use to love.
Your body grows thicker fur,
To deal with the heat loss.

You are a lion.
Your sun-baked, happy-faked,
Pretense-cacked pelt
Hangs loose on your
Tin-can tower bones.
You are a lion made of matchsticks,
Covered in tarpaulin.
You're a needle-and-thread,
Better-off-dead,
Regrets-what-you-said,
Lion.

Too tired to brush your mane,
So it flies in every direction,
North-east to north-west.
Teeth stained and chipped and rotted,
From the washing-machine acid you bathe them in.
Blood on your down-turned,
Hopes-burned, food-yearned,
Lips.
You chew them instead of food.
You, my friend,
Are a skin-and-bones lion
Too afraid to hunt.

Reviews

[onebookaway]

I absolutely loved this poem - it described self-starvation as a form of weakness instead of as a secret strength very well. Good word choice and good imagery.

[James]

Very different write. At first, I didn't know what to make of this, but about halfway through I got the feeling that you are really pissed at someone.