The King of Beasts

The King of Beasts sits
on a royal throne.
Greedy little Monkeys perch around him
as still as stone.

Fear and terror shrouds the land as he walks
angry through the taiga to the swamps as he stalks
lovesick deer instilled by fear
of the many and various predators.

They are senseless creatures,
grazing in his territory.
They tremble and the earth trembles,
no courage, and they quit breathing.

His only rival is the Spirit.
He is War and the General
under Dragon and Phoenix,
an old grandfather mascot
ridden by a ten armed warrior.

The evil sorcerer shape shifts
under a full moon and eclipses
master masquerading as human,
ghost striped, dark and vertical,
with a cause for revenge like Montezuma.

Rebel heads go on a platter.
The executioner gets fatter.
He is otherwise likeable.

James Dye is a college student from Dubuque Iowa.

Find more by James J. Dye in the Author Index.

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