First Love

My first love
will always be the thrill of it
the hunt, the chase, the kill,
the remit,
the growling and grabbing and purring
at one another
until the inevitable.

My first love
will always be
the feel of my teeth in flesh
and the blessed satisfaction
of the bloodless demise
of my
chosen
lion
For whom I forsake my pride.

The protection of my
fellow
lionesses
is less than nothing
in wild comparison
to the raw and savage passion,
that drives me across the plains
to tempt you to a watering hole
and there to hold
you down
and cut your mane.