photo by Jeffrey Jung
The Lions of Gotham
Brown-maned, tan-skinned,
wandering hi-roller clubs,
streets, looking for sweets,
jonesing for sugar buzzes
most tender when stakes
are high. Eyes hunt
then swivel to meet
their buddy’s in check
party mate when spy
pretty lashed herdbright
to be cut from and pounced.
In lazy times, with appetite
by proxy, they release
designer coiffed bait cows
with promise of glamour
and exotic terrain, led like
lambs to brute slaughter.
Over years and way over fears
of accountability, a high rise
meat locker could be filled
with their bruised carcasses,
corpses that live on.
In 1898, in Tsavo, Kenya
it took only dozens of prey-ed
Indian and (uncounted) African
railway construction workers
to bring out big guns to
blast sore-toothed monsters down.
With Gotham Lions, halfway done.
One wore a pre-dead rope necklace.
A hunting crew now stalks the other
in hallowed oak courtrooms. En garde,
on the run, trying to lose them in
in terrain of distraction, nonetheless
they’re gaining. May his skull
one day grace the Field Museum’s
special wing of Unnatural History.
I am today’s host of dVerse’ Tuesday Poetics, where I ask dear poets to write about power.
Tao Talk 
A powerful poem, Lisa.
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Kim, thank you.
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My pleasure, LIsa.
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I wonder too what will become of the monster in the end.
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Power and powerful, Li!
Thank you for hosting.
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Merril, thank you. There is so much more I wanted to say, name names, etc. but it will do — for now. My pleasure on hosting.
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You’re very welcome. I’m not sure if I understood all of it, but the power is there!
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Reading …’s book really triggered me and the way he preys on his victims reminds me of predatory animals. The Tsavo Lions they suspected they turned to killing humans because they had broken or infected teeth that made it difficult to kill their usual prey. I wondered what excuse the Gotham Lions could have? Not only were they not hunted down, they continued to gather power and adulation. The equation doesn’t add up.
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Ahh–OK. I get it. I thought maybe it had to do with him or …, but I didn’t quite understand the lions–except predators. No, it doesn’t add up. You’d think “grab them by. . .” would have been enough to tank him.
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Such beautiful creatures – a very powerful poem Lisa 🙌
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Power is sinister these days…we can only hope that justice is finally served. (K)
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Yes it is. If they were raising statues to anyone these days, Judge Kaplan needs one, having to put up with that circus not once but twice with old numbnuts.
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Something has to give…I just hope it’s for the better.
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<3
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Very powerfully done, Li. Mesmerizing. Thanks. And thanks for the cool prompt
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Thanks, Ron. I’d like to polish this poem and add more to it as the comparison is valid. My pleasure on the prompt. Reading those 2 books pretty much commanded my prompt exist.
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This is a sharp indictment of predatory people that groom their victims. There is so much that comes to light when powerful people (and the one’s hiding in their shadows – the pack) are exposed.
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Thank you very much, Anna. Their whole evil way depends on secrecy! Another question for you: did you ever work in Saginaw, MI?
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No, sorry, I’ve never lived in Michigan.
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Wow, Lisa This packed a punch! Fantabulous!
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Dale thank you very much. I want to expand it at some point, as the lawsuits keep coming ;)
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You go for it!!
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<3
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💞
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This reads like an allegory, Lisa. Even the powerful become dust in the wind! Given time this too shall pass.
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Dwight, thank you very much for your feedback. I pray it does come to pass.
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:>) You are welcome my friend!
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Human appropriations of prey is the tooth-necklace of triumph; and yet the powers we gain vanquish the Earth. And the dudes clink glasses high fiving their latest kills. Never was there such defiant presumption in the pride of lions.
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I know in the olden days and maybe even continuing in cultures today, there is a prayer of thanks given for any prey taken. Such a very different approach to the “defiant presumption” of right and anti-thanks we see in these lions. Where/how do you think it will end? End it must, or we must end.
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Very powerful writing Li.
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Sadje, thank you, my friend.
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You’re very welcome dear friend
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A wonderfully cryptic account to the one ex and other struggling to rise above it lions of Gotham… No need to name names – we have them in our sights!
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Andrew, I appreciate your not naming names also. Thank you very much.
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This poem makes for a potent metaphor regarding the predatory cheapness and nastiness of affluence that should instead be profoundly influential in spreading wealth and wellbeing to others. Good luck to the new hunters!
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This poem is a potent metaphor for the cheapness and nastiness of irresponsible affluence. Good luck to the new hunters.
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From the powerful image you chose, through each powerful stanza ~~~ this is a poem guaranteed to impact. Thank you for the challenge, Lisa.
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Helen, thanks so much for your feedback. You are welcome on the challenge. I am loving all of the poems from it.
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literally a sad demise and misuse of power against the powerful. And they called it Big Game Hunting – nothing playful there
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Laura, thanks very much for sharing your thoughts on the poem.
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