Lion Tears

Disclaimer
I wrote this in 2011 after a big event changed my life. It isn't my favorite, but it is something I wrote so here you go.

You always were a lion
One with a great roar
But now as I watch you age
Are you the same lion anymore?

The day you broke your back
Serving the dead
Worry for you I did lack
But worry for me is what I had instead.

Because what I am is a mere worm
And you are a lion from which I have much still to learn.
A worm who was selfish, I can tell
And a worm, you know, who has always been in his shell.

But this worm did cry on the day you fell.
It was a day you cried more than anyone can tell.
Crying was something I didn’t think a lion could do
But you did it, and that night I cried too.

It is a rare thing to see a lion’s tears
And as a worm it is one of your greatest fears
For when you squirm in the shadow of lions
You are used to looking up to them

But their tears shine brighter than Orion
And watching these crying lions that were once your stem
Put everything into a rem.
You are a frail lion

Too delicate to continue hunting.
And all I ask is that you keep living on
And to keep affronting
Because someday I too will become a lion with a roar
But it will never be as loud as yours.