The Dragon Poem by Livia C. Delven

In a land far north that seemed to have no worth
Where the wind always blew back and forth
There lived a dragon with mighty talons
In a canyon in winter and in summer, the mountains

This went on for many years
Until in her sadness the dragon cried her one tear
With that tear she asked the gods that if against all odds
They would grant her a child born free and wild

She was beguiled as the gods smiled
And granted her a male child
But they then said, “You will die before this child Breaks
For you knew what was at stake
When you shed your tear…”
The rest she did not hear

She looked at the egg opaque
And for her child’s sake
She used her magic so he would not wake
Until he would find in his subconscious mind
A time that was plentiful
And the world not so terrible
And with that she died with the egg at her side

In his tiny shell, in his dark cell
The baby waited until the spell
Allowed him to escape into the world

Upon the sight of his mother
He cried for his sorrow a death knell
The cry startled some deer in a dell
The dragon watched them run one after another
He saw one fall, forgotten by the others
He asked the earth mother
“How can creatures be so cruel
Why is all life not counted as a jewel.”

And so he grew from that point of view
He protected all life he could
Until one day his actions were misunderstood
As he tried to help a bear with her cubs
When they were caught in a shrub
The mother tried to strike him with her claws
After that he decided to withdraw
Into his cave and to wait for his grave