The Dragon Woke Last Night

This poem was written as a dramatic spoken word piece, and I am lobbying for the poet to employ it for a video...we shall see what comes of that. It is a spin off of an old poem of his entitled "The Dragon Dies in Flight" that he wrote when he found out he was being cheated on by a lover. He turned that anger on himself, somehow feeling he was the cause of the infidelity (later evidence was that this was a pattern for her...)

This poem reflected a reawakening of the internal, infernal "dragon" that once was a mainstay of his works.

The Dragon Woke Last Night

the dragon woke last night
so long unfed
and left for dead.
wings aching as they stretched
for the first time in many seasons.
reasons for the slumber
not forgotten,
but discarded,
like so many promises
made in haste.

and he will taste the wind again
and he will taste the wind.

eyes evolved to see in night
to see in light
too faint for the prey
that walks willingly
into the jaws that cradle flame.
seeking a name
as a tamer of a mythic beast.
a feast
willing to be consumed
to be a face in the mosaic.

and he will taste the wind again.
and he will taste the wind.

the sacred sibilance of scales
rubbing upon one another
in a life rattle,
drowning out the chants
of those who thought themselves
who brought themselves
out as slayers of dragons.
only to find that steel melts
and flesh becomes memory
when the fire is passion.

and he will taste the wind tonight.
and he will taste the wind.


William F. DeVault. all rights reserved.