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.