Saturday, Jun. 12, 2004 / 4:37 p.m.
In the Lion's Den

When the lions charge at you

Hungry with claws outstretched

You realize what you're made of

Sometimes it is pluck and courage

Sometimes just lion food

And if you are lion food

Better to toss yourself to them quickly

And end the pain and torment

Of being ripped apart slowly

The pain of being savored

But if you are something else

Better to fight the lions tooth and nail

For the odd chance that you'll survive

Is worth the risk of painful death

And what's inside is too good for any lion

The question then is how you know

Which of the two you are made of

No litmus test can tell definitively

But if there is the chance you think

You might not be the delicious dinner

Then fight with all your heart.

The world is made up of chances, oracles, questions

And none of them are certain

But by fighting when you most probably are just lion food

Makes you something more