Deep in the dark jungle where only

A daring hunter prowled lonely,

Seeking himself a quarry,

That would bring him death or glory.

There the lioness did recline,

So elegant and supine,

Awaiting and a-watching the hunter nimble,

Quiet as the dropping thimble,

Creep through the darkened jungle,

Never once was he to stumble.

The lioness was haughty-proud of her wondrous treasure,

A golden pelt and glowing eyes that brought her greatest pleasure,

But teeth and claws gave many pause,

None would dare to confront her lightly,

Though a hunter young and sprightly,

Was given much consideration,

For his gifts that rivaled her predation.

Climbing upon tree limbs that stretched across the greening sky,

Two twinkling stars had fixed upon the hunter who would die,

He saw the gleaming beacons to which no light could compare,

His options all were bleak ones, every action was a dare.

He could scurry through the jungle,

And perhaps he would not bungle,

‘Long the path so grim and dreary,

Pursued by a beast that grew never weary,

He would be dead before his foot fell

On the sun-drenched stones a desert hell.

He could arm himself with rifle,

And pick off the lioness but oh what trifle,

He had come to hunt not cheat,

And nothing but blood, pounding spraying, could beat,

The need to taste the lioness in fury,

His death was not his foremost worry.

Then left to him was option one,

Throw himself forward so the fight had begun,

He grappled her down as she set claws to his flesh,

They rolled together side-by-side chest-to-chest,

He now gaining she now taking,

Squirming to overcome, closer to breaking,

He grabbed at her heart and she bit on his throat,

And so greatly enthralled they sounded a note,

So long and so primal so suffused with desire,

The flesh of the other their resistance a fire,

That melded together the two who had need of the hunt,

No thought of whether the resolution was blunt,

‘Til finally rising from bodies entwined,

The one stood to offer up loud praises divine,

And off into the darkness where such creatures roam,

No longer suited for civilized home.

The taste of the jungle alone can compel,

To reveal the hidden hunter from where deep down he does dwell.