That's us but personally
I would decline the title
on behalf of all my
buddhist friends
and vegan sisters
our cat however
having found himself a seat
atop the fence between us
and the neighbors
and under the recently
denuded maple
surveys the yard below
tail swishing
focused as any lion
gazing out across the Serengeti
for sign of easy prey
an ailing antelope
an elephant cub
that's strayed behind the herd
so Ollie looks for fluttering
of little wings
a bird too chilled
by last night's frost
to launch herself
skyward in time

We too were there
out on the Serengeti
hardly top predators
we learned to run
behind the lions
eager to be first
among the scavangers
grasping our crude stone axes
to get at the rich marrow
hidden inside the bones
the lions left behind
all the while watching
anxiously for whatever
might come after us
so even now our cat
displays a calm assurance
that I myself
distant descendent
of those scavengers
can only envy