In Defense of Dragons

For 1sojournal NaPoWriMo Poetry Prompt #27: Day 27
http://1sojournal.wordpress.com/

dragons, course, become, compass, sail, soul
padded, lock, hides, deepening, conquer, definitions

And for The Sunday Whirl prompt: Wordle #158
http://sundaywhirl.wordpress.com/

leave, cheat, chew, branch, channel, beastly
few, cancer, release, speak, become, beading

Neosafalus

In Defense of Dragons

Dragons may chew rocks,
channel smoke and fire,
appear somewhat beastly,
with scaly hides, leathery wings
that set a swift course
like needle on a compass
locked onto one destination.

They are not some cancerous outgrowth
of that snake wrapped round a branch
in ancient garden, who offered woman
apple beaded with deepening lies
intended to cheat her of soul.

Dragons speak of releasing truth,
teaching few who would listen
to conquer dread and doubt padded
with falsely learned definitions.
Fearlessly sail sea of imagination,
leaving treasure trove of glittering
information about how to become
one with self and soul and whatever
else was originally intended.

Elizabeth Crawford  4/27/14

Notes: I have thoroughly enjoyed the past three days and writing about dragons. But, am also aware that dragons have gotten a rather bad rap in Western mythology, often seen as fire breathing destroyers and in need of being slain. In Eastern mythology dragons are often seen as both benevolent and benign beings. In this piece, you get a closer look at my own construct and ideas about these creatures, gained through reading, studying lore, psychology, and mythology, as well as symbolism. I created a Personal Mythology many years ago while trying to learn meditation techniques that would help me relax and refuel. Eventually, the dragons began to appear and became a part of that Mythology. Later, as a free lance writing instructor, I even taught individuals how to meet and get to know their own dragons. I also used the movie Dragonheart, with Dennis Quaid, as a means of seeing the dragons in a different light. In the movie (1996?), Sean Connery is the voice of the dragon Draco. I would dare anyone not to like his portrayal. Yesterday, I wrote out a dialogue I had with one of my own dragons. Was sort of stumped about what to do for today’s poem and the wordlist for The Sunday Whirl, let alone my own list of words from 1sojournal. I decided to go with a few words from each list, and was surprised when I used all of them. I really do like dragons. The image is another coloring page I colored with artists pens.