A Dragon's Story

A fierce and fire breathing dragon
Flew from his crag when young,
To test his wings in turbulent air
And see his song get sung.

He traveled high, he traveled far,
And found a strength of wing,
The strength of loving kindness,
More reason for him to sing.

And so he overflew the world,
His fierceness on the wane.
With high resolve to never again
Act as creation's bane.

While still young, he came to find
A muddy rock-filled town,
And remembering his early training,
Decided to settle down.

He set to work to dig a pit,
Less eagle - more the mole.
With strength of wing he excavated
A most inspiring hole.

The shackle at the bottom
Was blinding in its snap.
For it was years before he saw
He lived in a gilded trap.

The golden trap grew warmer,
Strong, yet gentle and kind.
The thought of ever rising up
Simply never entered his mind.

When dragons of his own blood
Began to flame and fly,
He was startled to look up and see -
Dragons flying by.

A yearning overcame him,
But not to fly away.
Just to test his wings again,
To sing his song, yet stay.

A dragon young or dragon old,
Both are built to fly.
To breathe their fire in upper reaches,
To soar until they die.

But if they live all unawares,
The tragedy unknown,
They may be fruitful and multiply,
Happy within their home.

A twinge of yesterday
Finds it difficult to compete
With the brilliance of today
When you think your life's complete.

From time to time a dragon
Flying high above the mire
Saw what seemed a lightning flash -
It was our hero's fire.

With steep descent, they one by one
Approached his searing heat.
And enjoyed the modulating warmth,
It was a natural treat.

Then one by one they flew away,
Singing a stronger song.
And left a shackled dragon
Yearning to sing along.