Poem: Territorial

Territorial

instinct
turned this cub
into a lioness

one whiff
of a fellow feline
in heat
shed eight lives'
past naivete

ripening
with the moon
her womb
carried her first-born fury
to term

she fed it claws
and in stealth
stalked
the unsuspecting,
but pussy-footing
competition

in the morning...

lioness queen
licks her bloody paws
clean

Steph Cruz, 8.9.06, rev.1