The Lion and the Lamb

MGM

There’s a picture of the Metro Goldwyn Mayer lion
Pinioned and strapped to a table –
Its head is set in a frame inscribed ‘MGM Trade Mark’
It roars to serve a Hollywood fable.

It roars to further the reach of the American Empire.
It’s the Land of the Free’s sad captive
And it’s being abused to serve the Empire’s soft power
Whose magic in close-up isn’t attractive.

There are only twenty thousand lions left alive
Throughout the entire African continent.
Rich American trophy hunters pay to shoot them
Then film themselves looking triumphant.

But when nature’s wildness is anaesthetized
And when its stars are decapitated for sport
Then the transmigration of souls may dictate
That man’s most bestial dragons run riot.

Innocent skies now hide diabolical drones
Randomly targeting those below –
Incinerating them with thermobaric bombs
To snuff out life’s luminous glow.

If there are no more wild Kings of the Jungle,
If mechanized man is now the great ‘I am’ –
True visions of peace and paradise will evaporate
There being no lion to lie down with the lamb.

Heathcote Williams


By Heathcote Williams

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7 Responses to The Lion and the Lamb

    1. That’s only rather bloody good…Great sentiment on a barbarous world…Thanks and if I may,I’ll share.

      Comment by Viv Harris on 14 September, 2015 at 12:53 pm
    2. Is that real??

      Comment by MyVegiePlace on 14 September, 2015 at 8:25 pm
    3. Hilariously inaccurate – that’s a lion getting an MRI that’s been Photoshopped, just Google Lion MRI and you’ll see the original.

      “Always check the authenticity of posts on the Internet.” – Winston Churchill

      Comment by Ben on 15 September, 2015 at 8:10 pm
    4. That is a composite photo of a Lion getting an MRI (Medical) Scan. If you check out the MGM Clips (hopefully with the link below), you’ll see that the lions used are all Sitting up, or with paws out front. They couldn’t film a ‘roar’ in this position, even if it were real.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WishkMn0FO8

      Comment by Debunker on 15 September, 2015 at 11:10 pm
    5. I think the picture was meant as a parody, not the real thing.

      Comment by Editor on 16 September, 2015 at 1:04 am
    6. Unfortunately, I’m sure a lot of animal-rights wackos will think the picture is authentic — just like all those idiots who believed the “Bonsai Kittens” website was real.

      Comment by scotpens on 16 September, 2015 at 4:57 pm
    7. We havent had any letters from ‘animal rights wackos’ thinking the picture is authentic as it happens. Just from people who seem to have missed the point of the picture. Perhaps the wackos get the irony.

      Comment by Editor on 16 September, 2015 at 7:00 pm

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