Untitled Poem (dragons)

It’s a village

And I’m sitting

My mother is happy

And she asks me

To come to dinner in the big tent

She smiles at me like I’m hers

She looks at me

Like she cares how I feel

 

I’ve been watching

Children playing

I’ve been sitting

In the dirt

Next to a tent

Amongst my work

It’s the the golden hour

No one notices me

And yet

It’s because I belong

So thoroughly

I could stand

And join in a game

Or a conversation

Like reaching

To hold my other hand

Like a cat

Curling up

Next to her brother

I couldn’t be happier

 

I’m sitting on the beach

Next to my father

We look silently

At the waves

I don’t need to say a word

About how the world has hurt me

He puts his hand on my shoulder

And says he understands

Completely

And all I can do is cry

 

I blink open my eyes

And I’m curled up alone

In a cave

Green tail covering my nose

Chin resting on my claws

I breathe out a bit of smoke

Then inhale a little too sharply

And cough

My heart sinks

A little more

As the sound makes its way

Through the trees

Adding another line to the lore

Of me

 

I used to bring them deer in the winters

I used to have a friend

Until I belly laughed too close

To her house

No one could put the fire out

And no one forgave me

Why should they

Really

 

I flew to the other side of the world

I’ve seen lots and lots

Of villages

There are so many kinds of people

All different colors and cultures

Across the vast planet

People living in the freezing cold

In their igloos and furs

People baking in the hot sun

Running across the desert

Families loving each other

But also killing each other

They tell tales of monsters

And heroes

Over and over

They tell tales of killing me

But they don’t even know me

 

Dear God

Where are all the dragons?

Do you know I can fly

All the way up to where the air is so thin

And the sun is so hot

It makes my skin sparkle—

I haven’t got the words..

Do you know

That feeling of fire at the back

Of your throat?

The heat that fills up your belly

And the way it coats your insides

With that little tickle?

Or how about the way that eyes look..

Every little eye I’ve ever seen

Nothing but fear gleans through that

Little window

Do you know that look, God?

Please?

You’re my only hope..

 

Besides my beautiful little family

In the village in my dream

Where are all the dragons?

On the beach I’ve yet to find?

My whole existence

I’ve only ever

Seen them in my mind

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