The Empty Hallway

There is no other person,
And as I pad down the hallway, on Jaguar's feet,
The walls vanish,
Revealing an open, grassy plain
Where I am wild again, as
The fountain at the end of the empty hallway
Becomes a rare spring to which I sprint,
My muscular cat's body inspiring fear in the wildlife
As my intimidating fangs flash
In the empty hallway, where
The picture of the basketball team
Melts, becoming a herd of zebras
wary of my presence at the hole
While
I have become the king of beasts,
Stalking now on lordly paws
Down the empty hallway
Where the fire extinguisher becomes a scarlet sunset,
As I, the great lion, am caught dozing on my paws by a teacher,
A big-games hunter who'd been happening by,
On his way to Nairobi for supplies,
Down the empty hallway....
Now I stalk into a library,
Which fades into a sweaty,
Seamy bar in South Africa,
Where I'm the new barkeep with the loaded gun
Whom you'd better not mess with;
My pants like faded canvas, and
My khaki shirt
Clings to my tired frame, and
As I pull down a volume from the shelf,
It becomes a bottle of Canadian Club
Poured into a smudgy shotglass at the bar
Where I am being silently, wearily accepted,
As I serve the rugged diamond miners their frosty ales,
And revive their spirits
With amusing tales....