The Lion Cub That Couldn't Roar

It was long life he was wishing for,
The king smiled to his little boy,
The lion cub that couldn't roar.

He grew up, looking up to his father,
Hoping to be just like him one day.
It was the roar he was wishing for.

Monkeys mocked, laughing on the floor,
How will he be the king they say
The lion cub that couldn't roar.

Tried and tried, there was nothing more,
But he never gave up, walking the way.
It was strength he was wishing for.

One day it came, booming evermore,
Monkeys went white, on the knees they pray
The lion cub with the thunder roar.

He became the king, then a father,
One day rule the jungle his son may.
It was long life he was wishing for
The lion cub that couldn't roar.

My Notes

This was something I've written in 2017 when I was taking a creative writing course at CityLit. It's a poem written in Villanelle; its explanation below is borrowed from poets.org:

The villanelle is a highly structured poem made up of five tercets followed by a quatrain, with two repeating rhymes and two refrains.

It's a children's poem, the story of a lion cub that finds its voice. My inspiration for this was (of course) The Lion King (1994).

This is my first try at poetry in English, as well as children's poems. I'm quite proud of the piece but, of course, it's quite simple.

A fun fact: English not being my first language and me being too shy about my writing, I've accidentally typed the word 'cub' as 'cup' in the final draft that I sent out (and printed). That was quite embarrassing for me to not realize it even after reading it aloud in the class and someone had to point it out to me. I got too excited, apparently.