A Lion in the Crowd

You could not see him
lying as if in tall grass,
waiting for a meal to wonder by,
for he kept silent,
grooming his great mane
with a pink enormous tongue;
baring teeth as sharp as spear points;
A lion in the crowd.

He made only a low and rumbling sound
as if to say, “never mind me,
though if close you come I shall pounce.”
And understanding this decree,
all the other beasts
of the jungle stayed clear
not to tempt him,
The lion in the crowd.

One day a little boy did venture
out among the wilds away from town;
Not realizing who might be waiting,
and came upon the sleeping king
so humbled among the tall dry grass.
But cunning as he was,
The beast made no attempt,
To fell the boy he found.

For there was something wrong that day
to subdue the pangs of hunger
inside the belly of the beast lying so still.
It was a thorn deep embedded
within the mighty paw
of the king so proud,
but you would not hear him holler loud
The lion in the crowd.

The little boy sensed his anguish
and pulled back the weeds so tall,
exposing a timid hulk in quiet tears
licking his wound of silent years.
“What can I do to ease your fears,
oh great king among the fields?”
said the boy in his still small voice,
to the lion in the crowd.

“Remove this thorn and you shall go
unharmed among the valley of my throne,”
said the great beast in all his pain.
So the little boy reached in
to where the mighty king lay,
and with his tiny fingers
plucked the thorn from
the lions aching limb.

Overjoyed at what he could not do,
and no longer suffering in pain
the lion agreed to let the boy pass unharmed;
just as he had promised.
And from that day on
there was no fear in him
or doubt in that small child;
for he had helped the lion in the crowd.

And so take heed and listen,
my son who trembles and pouts.
Remember the lesson of the story.
Where unseen perils lie amongst the tall dry grass,
there is per chance an opportunity to face and conquer,
even the fiercest of beasts you may have found,
lurking before your path;
even a lion in the crowd.

You may ask yourself what the point of the story was, or that it was perhaps stolen from an old children's fable; and you would be responding like any other reader who happened by. I, for one, have modified the story to fit within the confines of my own life story. The lion, like my father, has always been a quiet sullen figure who often falls asleep in his recliner and grumbles as the kids come running through the house when we come for a visit.

When I was a kid, it was the neighborhood joke that when Dad yelled, you had better run and hide or he might just kick you through a wall. But what I found over the years was that my Dad had a huge soft spot whenever one of us kids got hurt and he couldn't do anything to make us feel better. And when he had his bypass a few years ago, we all got to see just how sentimental and gentle he could be. Thus, the lion in the crowd becomes the one who needs tending, and the boy becomes the source of healing. I can only hope that in some small way I can be of some comfort to my Dad who worked so hard for me so that I could be the person I am today.