Depicted we see a lion & a cockerel. Seemingly Clarence is scampering off in fright having been confronted by a bold & keen-eyed Foghorn Leghorn character. (Showing my age here, anyone else remember Foghorn Leghorn?).

So the seal is an ode to keeping your wits about you. A sonnet to the observant.

How it pays dividends to be aware of your environment.

A lion is a creature who stalks, sneaks up silently until in close proximity & then pounces. What happens next? You die.

That’s what.

The metaphor extends to advise that you carefully vet who you allow to approach. Choose your inner circle wisely. Don’t allow the predator easy access. Be on the lookout for the danger that lurks. Keep your guard up.

It’s altogether not a terribly positive message to hold. The need for hypervigilance in order to just stay alive. Keep safe.

Exist.

And yet in our world of today I can’t help but feel that there’s a sad truth in it all. You never do quite know what evil skulks in the shadows. Who you thought, with every fibre of your being, you could trust only to be attacked & betrayed.

So I file this one, with the heaviest of hearts, under ‘talismans for the realists’. Protect yourself, keep a close watch for you & your loved ones. So when the lion makes its bid for your life you preempt it & crow so damned fiercely in its face that it scurries off with tail betwixt legs.

Here endeth the lesson.