3rd Degree Burns

Hours passed before the lion came to the edge of a pond,
fell on his side and painfully laid there bleeding for a while,
3rd degree burns down his neck, down his back and beyond,
the trail of blood ran for at least 2 whole miles,
perpetrated by a life-like enigma of a creature,
a guest he'd invited to visit his kingdom,
past the wide moat and way past all the walls,
the tenant had dinner, had cake and drank from the lion's mead,
was granted a tour of every room and every hall,
and when the night came, the creature was offered a place where it could sleep.
As the lion laid there staring off into space,
he saw his reflection, boy did he look like shit!
as he abruptly remembered he was king of this place,
the lion rose to his feet, drank water and cleaned up his face,
he threw dirt on his wound and
embraced the burning sensation he felt on his back,
this was definitively not what the lion had in mind,
when he invited the creature for some dinner and wine,
but shame on the lion, this was not the first time,
he's been through this before, there's no need to rewind,
but the lion learned his lesson,
and knows how to get himself out of this bind.

When you play with fire,
sometimes it burns so that the wound actually bleeds,
and as the lion discovered,
it doesn't matter just how careful you are,
when fire wants to burn it will sear everything it its path,
char it down to the ground...
but the lion's too strong,
he's got too much to give up,
he's got a pride to feed,
and a kingdom to run.