{"sf1_id":692851,"sf2_id":"r17Wo9R1","title":"Heart of the Lion","author":"ShingetsuMoon","words":581,"posted_at":"2014-04-14T00:58:00.000Z","tags":["Fursona","Lioness","Poem","Poetry"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/692851-heart-of-the-lion","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/s/r17Wo9R1","image_url":"https://cdn.sofurryfiles.com/submissions/thumbnails/2b/01/2b018fa4-b073-49dd-aa61-eb18616be599","description":"#13 of National Poetry Writing Month\n\nPoem number 13 for National Poetry Month. This one about my primary fursona Reno Blazefire the lioness.","content":"Heart of the Lion\n\n* * *\n\nHave you ever wanted  \nto be someone else?  \nSomething else?\n\nHave you ever longed to break  \nfree of whatever chains are   \nholding you back?\n\nBetter.  \nStronger.  \nKinder.  \nMore independent.  \nMore compassionate.  \nMore outgoing.  \nMore restrained.\n\nSomeone who knows exactly  \nwho they are and exactly where  \nthey want to go in life.\n\nSomeone who lives their dreams  \ninstead of hiding in the dark and   \nmourning the day they finally gave  \nup on them for good.\n\nA person who makes everyone   \nelse around her better just by  \nher presence and the weight of  \nher words.\n\nWe create alternate selves to   \nembody that which we would   \nlove to be.\n\nBut if you had the chance to  \nbecome that person. That   \nalternate persona would you take it?\n\nWould you take on everything that  \nthey are and leave yourself behind  \nforever. Would you become a different  \nperson knowing you could never go   \nback to the way things were.\n\nOh how I long for the heart of a lion.\n\nI am weak and she is strong.\n\nShe always has the right words to  \nsay to comfort those she cares about.  \nI am blunt and tactless. Fumbling  \nover my words unless given time to   \nplan them out in verse and prose.\n\nShe speaks up against any injustice  \nthat she sees. Her blood boiling at  \nthe thought of another being made   \nto suffer for the amusement or hate  \nof someone else.\n\nI hang my head in silence while my  \nheart demands that I say something  \nto correct their ignorance and error.  \nI flee the room while tears threaten  \nto break free from my eyes and my   \nheart condemns me for not being brave  \nenough to silence their hate.\n\nShe loves and fights for those she cares  \nabout with a passion that could shake   \nthe world. She lives boldly and does  \nnot fear her own emotions. She knows  \nwho she is and she is in perfect control.\n\nShe makes no apologies for who she is.  \nThe lion does not sit around idly waiting  \nfor things to change. If something is wrong  \nwith what she's done or who she is then she  \ndoes not waste her time on shame or guilt.  \nShe takes action to correct that which is wrong  \nand if she cannot do anything about it then  \nshe does not let it drag her into the depths of  \ndepression or self loathing.\n\nI write my words down in poems  \nand stand by with a nervous flutter in  \nmy chest as I finally work up the   \ncourage to let others see just the   \ntiniest glimpse of my most heartfelt  \nemotions.\n\nI fight for every foot, every inch so that  \nI can be proud of who I am and what I am  \nonly to have others tear it down with a few   \nsimple words.\n\nShe looks in the mirror and swells with  \npride over the fierce queen that she is.   \nStrong, kind, compassionate, confident,  \nmerciful, bold but not reckless, careful but  \nnot overly cautious. Totally comfortable  \nwith who she is, who she loves, who her   \nfriends are, and the future she wants for   \nherself.\n\nI stare in the mirror telling myself that   \nI am and always will be good enough.  \nThen I lower my eyes while  \ntrying to muster the strength to  \nshow that courage to others.\n\nShe is everything I wish I was and   \neverything I want myself to become.\n\nOnce, just once I wish I could have  \nthe heart of a lion.\n\n  \n  \n\n","series":{"name":"National Poetry Writing Month","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/692285-blackfish.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/693221-tears-of-the-oryx.json"}}