The Lion Can't Sleep Tonight

The lion can’t sleep tonight

Because the leopard

Snores too loudly

The lion would eat the leopard

But the lion isn’t hungry

The lion is tired

So the lion goes down

To the watering hole

Where it’s quieter

And tries to go to sleep

In the sky

The parrots call out

To one another

Even though

They should be sleeping

Because they’re excited

About the new colors

Coming through

In their feathers

The lion roars up at them

To stop squawking

And hawking

Because he’s trying to sleep

But the parrots

Do not fear the lion

Because the parrots are above him

Way up in the sky

And the lion has to find

A new place to sleep

He goes deep into the jungle

And finds a spot

Amongst the anthills

Where there’s the sound

Of no sound

But as soon as he puts

His glorious mane down

The ants circle around him

And pick him up

And try to carry him back

To the Queen

When they see he’s too big

To visit the Queen

The Queen comes for a visit with him

And she asks him

His intention as it relates

To him sleeping next to her kingdom

“Are you a threat,” she asks him

And he assures her

That never, in his entire lion-y life

Has he eaten an ant

And he’s offended that she

Would suggest such a thing

It makes no nevermind

To the Ant Queen

As she instructs him

To find another place to sleep

Since his presence

Makes all the other ants uncomfortable

And it’s very hard

To work around a giant sleeping lion

And ants are known

To work all throughout the day and night

So the lion would have to go elsewhere

The lion worked its way

Up the nearest tree

Where it found a limb

That seemed tucked under

A bushel of leaves

And he made himself comfortable

Wondering if he should simply

Make a home for himself

In the trees

Rather than the rocks

Where the leopards sometimes rest

And snore

And keep everybody awake

From his branch

He could see all over the jungle

And all the animals

Sleeping or not sleeping

And he realized

He had never thought about

All the creatures around him

And how their lives

Stop and start

While he eats and hunts

And sleeps

Or doesn’t sleep

The hum of the insects

As they buzz and bounce

In the air

Along with the snaps of twigs

As nocturnal animals

Move down on the ground

Create a symphony of nighttime

That irritates the lion at first

But then becomes sort of soothing
When he decides

To hear what he’s hearing

In a new way

When the lion (finally) falls asleep

He dreams of sleeping

And in that sleep he dreams of sleeping

And he goes deeper and deeper

Into slumber

Until he finally awakens

Still in the tree

And the sun is just breaking through

To the spot where he’s made a bed

He begins his long climb

Down the trunk

And into the day

Where he’ll grab breakfast for himself

Somewhere between the tallest grass

And the sun spots scattered

Around the edges of the jungle

Then he’ll start thinking

About when he can take

A nap