Dragon Poems


Hunter
by  Steven F. Boettcher

I'm a hunter; that is my trade.
I live for the kill and the thrill.

I was commissioned by the King
To capture and if necessary to kill a mythical beast.
For this beast was prophesied
As being the downfall of the King's rule.

I don't know.

I think maybe that would be a good thing.
But I'm not paid for my thoughts:
Only my skill.

Even though, deep in my heart,
I know we would be better off
Without this King,
I am a loyal subject.

And I am a hunter.

That is what I do.

I've been on the trail
Of the mythical beast for months.
I have followed its tracks over hills
And through valleys.

Yet I have not seen
A glimpse of the beast.

My gut feeling tells me to quit.

I am not a quitter.
I never quit.
I am a hunter.

I am the best at what I do.

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My instincts tell me that I am close.
I fear no one, or beast,
But I fear that the death of the beast
Would be the end of my soul.

I finally confront the beast.
A large red dragon, with
Bat-like wings and a spear for a tail.

I draw my sword, yet the beast doesn't move.
It just looks at me with unblinking eyes.

This does not feel right.

I demand from the dragon,
"Why will you cause the King's fall?"

"I will do nothing to the King"
The worm answered.
"It is you who will slay the King."

"I am a hunter,
I slay beasts,
Not kings!"

The dragon stretched his long neck
And peered at the face of the hunter.

"Look into my eyes, brave hunter.
See the truth…see your King."

I look.
I am scared.
I see…I see
I see the truth.

The King,
A monster I never knew.
No one does.
No one will.

I lifted my sword
And pierced him through the heart.

I brought the King
The dragon's tail.

As the King lifted the tale in triumph,
I swung my sword…

The King was no more.

This, friar, is my story.
Please forgive me.
I knew no other way.

I am a hunter.
That is what I do.

(The executioner brought the hunter to the guillotine
and the hunter was no more.)

 

2000

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The Eye of the Dragon
by Steven F. Boettcher

I looked at the eye of the dragon,
a slit into the past I see.
I sense a majesty so regal and pure
and the power of magic mastery.

To slay a dragon in all its glory
is a sin and a fatality of human soul.
For it is the mighty and proud dragon
that makes humanity whole.

The magic that links human to drake
is the magic of life itself.
So when I look in the eye of the dragon
I bridge humanity with God's self.

 

 

A Knight's Dilemma
by Steven F. Boettcher
 

In the distance
I can hear a Dragon's call
A fatal fall
A ravaged maul.

From my perch
I can see the fiery fight
The useless flight
A meaningless plight.
 

Between my fingers
I can see the Dragon's claw
The inspired awe
A fatal flaw.

From my hiding place
I draw my sword
Cross the ford
Face the feared clawed.

From the point of doom
At the dragon's foot
There I stood
My sword, like wood.

So there I stood, faced by the dragon's breath.
I gathered my strength and faced with certain death.
I plunged my sword into the heart of the beast.
And there it fell, dead, finished, deceased.

 

 

 

Watching The Battle in the Land Of Little Care
By Steven F. Boettcher

 

The whispering wind whistles through my window
A sound so shrill I sense an anger;
A powerful presence permeates from points unknown
I wonder why his will escapes the wall.

Through the wide, wailful, and watchful wall,
his fury sets fire to those frightened people
as the tower bells bellow below
in the court of the Crimson King.

A red radiance rallies his subjects
to gather galantly at the gates
to prepare for the terror
of the deadly devil dragon.