Lion

I woke and there a lion in my room
which was not there before,
or hid perhaps amid the gloom
til now absent of his roar
did send my eardrums to my heart
to warn me of a meal
of which I was the meaty part
and not a guest genteel.
Did I mention this was long ago
and for a while long
I hid amid the dust below
the bed, afraid of him so strong.
But through an exercise of wit,
endurance and resolve,
I came to touch the hide of it
and even came to love
the beast whose hot and hearty breath
and deep and savage growl
were never meant to serve my death
but there to make me whole,
for courage is an empty thing
without its trembling reach
toward the thing that lions bring
our wall of fear to breech.