When St. Jerome is pictured
Certain things are usually shown.
First the Saint seated at his desk
Within walls of Medieval stone,

And placed before or beside him
Are his symbols-there are three-
The skull, perhaps, placed on a book
And two animals which are these:

The domestic animal is the dog
Often reposing on the floor.
The wild animal is the lion
And that story you’ve heard before-

About the lion with injured paw
And the Hero who draws a thorn.
Doubtless all this happened somewhere
And the unquenchable legend was born.

From this point things get confusing.
We find there are several tales
From Ancient Rome and Greece
About lion’s paws-thorn impaled.

Asoph has one version, and
Casting our Net wide
Pulls in the story of St. Jerome
And several others besides.

Had someone in the ancient world
From Africa’s wide dry plains
A feline pet of startling size?
(We infer: just the story remains.)

A lion cub with teeth too large
For a small thorn to grasp and remove
Seeks out the friendly lion keeper
To have that piercing soothed.

How attractive is the thought
Of this feline finding succor.
We like to think our little lions
Resemble this large pet in fur.