.
Time and place: Renaissance Florence
.
From watch-posts, pedestals, columns,
they leapt to life―claws out,
jaws wide―their roars not imagined
by those dreaming in safety.
With strength they pursued vagrants, who too
were prowling―worse than any lion―
for they bore the image of the Eternal
yet roamed the night to thieve and maul.
One old guardian, full-maned but thin-shanked,
awoke still half-stone, claws clutching
shining spheres of marble
to menace and wield. At times
the night, under the Italian skies,
and the dim streets, were thronged
with legions of lions seeking vengeance
for the corruption of their City.
Out of love, they nuzzled real lions―
caged at street corners―
making them think they were
simply their own magnificent shadows―
And so, in ancient stone Justice still lived and redressed wrongs
in Florence which proclaimed herself its Guardian.
