Living Lore

By Cliff Lake

Living Lore

 

When the myth came alive,

We were unprepared.

Gargantuan and too evilly clever,

It lured the credulous easily.

The learned would not believe –

They were consumed on approach.

A hunger had it,

It would not be satiated,

Not quickly,

Not quickly enough.

A sinuous thing,

And armored cruelly well,

It’s size belied a speed seen only in dark dream.

Taking flight impossible,

It was harried by the best in fighters,

Crumpled metal birds littered every field.

And there,

In the air above all,

It spied the first city.

Its taste leaned most toward roasted meat,

And descending on the populace,

It belched fire.

Thus was this legend confirmed:

Dragon.

Now it would grow fat on our helpless,

Now it would observe the pretty things gathered,

Now it would hunt,

Now it would den in the abandoned capital,

Now was sought a hero.

What unlikely doughty,

What fearless,

What altruist could face this thing down?

Strength did not suffice,

Weaponry was sneered at,

Artifice would be the means.

Now a belted swordman would approach:

Suicidal confront.

Then did the serpent laugh wickedly,

For it would have a midday bite.

But discerning men had constructed that sword,

Made it of a metal that corrupted flesh,

The merest touch corroded the organic.

Thus when the beast lunged,

The first prick of the fatal weapon,

Seared like acid,

Taking most of the worm’s jaw,

While the caustic properties worked more.

Then did the hero hack at all that he could reach,

The dragon’s defeat came in pieces.

Now we watch the skies and dark places unexplored,

One fiction has visited us,

And our libraries are filled with many more.

So many more…

 

Cliff Lake 2/13/2024

Copyright © Clifford Lake 2024

Location: Wichita, KS, USA

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