I didn’t know that
there was anything
in the closet
although some nights
my sleep would be
interrupted by strange
rumblings
but 
I always thought
these to be
minor 
quakes.

the closet was
the one
down the hall
and
was seldom
used.

the curious thing
for me
was that
the cats
(I had 4 of
them)
appeared to be
leaving
large 
droppings
about
(and
they were 
house-broken.)

then
the cats
vanished
one by 
one
but the fresh
droppings
kept 
appearing.

it was one night
while I was
reading the
stock market
quotations
that I
looked up

and
there stood
the
lion
in the bedroom
doorway.

I was 
in bed
propped up
with a
couple of
pillows
and drinking a
hot
chocolate.

now
nobody
can believe
a lion
in a
bedroom—
at least
not 
in a city
of any
size.

so
I just kept
looking at the
lion
and not
quite
believing.

then
it turned and
walked down the
stairway.

I 
followed it—
a good
18 feet
behind—
clutching my
baseball bat
in one
hand
and my
4-inch knife
in the
other.

I watched the
lion
go down the
stairway
then walk
across the front
room

it paused
before the large
plate glass
sliding
doors
which faced the
yard and the
street.

they were
closed.

the lion 
emitted an
impatient
growl

and
leaped through the
glass
crashing through
into the
night

I sat
on the couch
in the
dark
still unable
to believe
what 
I had 
seen.

then
I heard
a scream
of such utter
agony and
terror
that
for a
moment 
I could
neither
see
breathe nor 
comprehend.

I rose,
turned to
barricade myself
in the
bedroom

only to see
3 small
lion cubs
trundling
down
the stairway—
cute
devilish
felines

as the
mother
returned
through the
night and the
shattered glass
door

half dragging
half  carrying
a bloodied
man
across the
rug
leaving a
red
trail

the cubs 
rushed
forward
an the
moon
came through
to light
the 
whirling
feast.