With the golden eyes of a pharaoh –

My lioness extends her paw to me -
Her forebears brought down rhino –
Under the sweltering skies of the high veldt:
Lithe and supple, fleet of foot,
She covers this northern turf
With ceaseless leaps and bounds.
Her loyalty is unbounded by species,
Affiliation is to the death.
No treachery in her world of smell:
No subtleties of intent

No pretence, No deceptions of manner,
No sins of commission or omission:
Just her plain unvarnished tale: A life, lived