LIONS have they had their day?

They rank in the kingdom of felines to be
Kings of their jungle all roaming free
Of noble extraction distinctively so
Back into ancestry long long ago
It was about courage their dominance too
Their bloodstock was genuine and remains true
They had the respect and they stood for something
All self reliant hence the great King

But there’s an absurdity a vagary
Go back to the Chinese through their history
Back to the MING the MING Dynasty
the Guardian Lions all protecting they be
In Imperial Palaces tombs and temples where
From the Han dynasty more then did share
A dominant feature one of respect
Powerful and mythic sculptors did elect
To signify these strengths these powers
And they
Were stationed in front keeping evil
away

It was the representation of a being
Who would fight to the death and just be all seeing
This was their role crowned king of kings
They took their charge and were not in the wings
Their courage was evident all felt the power
A great source of light camouflaged on the hour
Their roar was impressive it shook the whole scene
And people in ear shot would always have been
So apprehensive to get past a LION
in your path for the wrath was an optimum sign

So clear, our ancestors knew of their worth
Protection was evident
All over earth
So where did the disrespect come from and why
What was the cause of why so many die?
I know of untruths and mis-declaration
The rarity factor of Tigers, and the relation
To traditional medicine which the markets know
Tiger cake made up of other bones show
They sacrificed honesty by creating a way
And an unfortunate market and the Lions then did pay

It increased the margins for lions were not as rare
And bred in captivity just anywhere
A market developed to support all those lies
And canned hunting was born as we now realise
But the Lions out in China were noble and strong
The respect that they had there all along
Was lost in the black market contraband shipped
The TCM market place therefore was ripped

A massive market needed to be
Developed and Africa just worked its qi
Up to their eyes in it, assassins imported
From rich hunting stock their arrogance courted
Then the bones shipped to Thailand and Cambodia too
Mixed up with monkey and Turtle they do
Grind it together and press it into
Cakes sold as Tiger and sadly thats true

So with less and less Tigers
Shedding their light
The Canned Lions fraternity
Began their flight
Its become a big business
With profits galore
And the African Lion in the wild
Is no more

They are being reduced by the day
As we know
What was seen as so noble and strong
With a glow
Has been wronged by the larcenists
And what we see
Are the poor LIONS now shot and shipped
Illegally

Described as Bones in the Far East
The unscrupulous traders change the name of their beast
And thats where the big money is and it talks
And Africa hears for their ears are like Hawks
Every part of the Lion can be sold at a price
That gives a big margin we know its not nice
Its unfair and its wrong and its dishonest too
And the lack of respect it just drives on through

There are still some Tigers and the Ligers as well
They are mixing and matching these traders from hell
Its a terrible market with an ugly end
And now trophies too
And, that does send
More profit more sadness
Its everywhere
The lack of respect for the King
They don’t care

And we look at the Lions in cities in stone
In Bronze all the guardians in pairs and alone
In China in England all over the world
The black marketeers where they have hurled
Their mis declared cargo so sinful and wrong
Their victims the African Lion once so strong
Once revered by the royalty then of the day
Seen as a noble soul, we made them pay

Its a malevolent spirit a severity
Where’s the compassion and the empathy
All the worst intentions
Its a vile attitude
Its maligning a creature
Its terribly crude
And the threats now are ominous
The menace of crime
Its frightening stuff
As the numbers do climb

And its done with such vigour
With callous contempt
And very few farmers
Prepared to relent
Every excuse in the book
You now hear
The petting by volunteers
And then all the fear

Once our great Lions
Were regarded as kings
And now words like “harvest”
Thats why it brings
The sadness in me to the fore of my soul
For governments really have lost the control

The poachers its money it talks and few hear
In the right places now it does appear
So many victims its never fear
As the criminals work it
More LIONS disappear

The charitable angels of course
Are around
They march and work tirelessly now
On the ground
Signing petitions exposing these crimes
The Lions disrespect is the sign of the Times
Disrespect of ancestors and pathological pursuit
Of profit and power which is at the root
Of all this vile hunting
Of corporate wealth
Much of it concocted in darkness by stealth

my heart is with Lions all the cats
Everywhere
They are facing such terrible losses
Despair
Runs through their veins
As our eyes can see
Their roars are less powerful
Which should never be

Our hope is that visionaries will overcome
And Bring back the Lion and The Tiger so some
Will still be living their wild lives away
From man so unkind who kills them today
We really can do this the gratitude there
An end to skulduggery and to despair
It is my hope that these rackets will be
Stopped in their tracks, eventually

I was asked by Pieter Kat to write about our LIONS

OK Rex – here we go:

Lions stand proud as statues in our cities
To celebrate strength and nobility and courage
But lions are fragile and vulnerable
No nobility is gained in front of a lion hunter’s gun
Only death and a sad skin…

About Rex Tyler

I love animals. I enjoy writing poetry and delivering speeches.I like to mentor people who need help in preparing speeches and evaluations.I enjoy travel although it is much harder for me these days.I so enjoyed the Andes Mountains and Volcanoes and the Quichua people who live and thrive there.I have lots of friends around the world.
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