Paper tigers are

saber rattlers,

neighbor tattlers,

favored whiners and

major prattlers that

savor decline,

yet cannot fight.

To do away

with a roaring beast

only to find a

fragile feline

in its place

should not be surprising.

A splash of cold water

shows their true form,

and they never really recover

after that.

Sometimes stripes are earned,

sometimes they are merely projected.

Straw dogs are routinely discarded,

after their special day,

not because they deserve this,

but because this is their purpose.

Dressed to the nines,

blessed and

lest we forget

left in the street

once their job is complete.

No matter how many times,

they are thrown away,

straw dogs return another day,

to be a display,

that cannot stay.