…and still trembles at my name

I am Blaze, an ancient dragon, fire was always my destiny
just as all of my dragon kin, I was born of the sky and the sea
our embers always burned unseen
our beating wings covered mountains
even the moon hid from me and the gods feared to speak my name
my breath turned the night to day and my talons shaped the shores
I spoke in tongues that the wind had lost
and I flew where no birds dared
time passed me by in silence, a foe I could never destroy
bringing an era of treacherous kings
and prideful knights, seeking only glory
they found our hidden lairs and plundered our sacred caves
some fell in battle, but many survived
and we were hunted in our grief, our bones ground for mages’ spells
our hearts displayed as a thief’s, but we were never defeated
yet they claimed they had slayed us all and then sang us into myths
now ages have passed, and I remain
stretched out on obsidian cliffs beneath a slow bleeding sky
my wings tired, my heart forever broken
in my soul the embers still linger and when they flare I let them burn
let those who come and light their lamps
know whose bones adorn this place
let them see the scales beneath and the gold that veins my skin
let them hear the ancient storm that still rattles deep within
I let the wind, that winds its way through the crumbling bones
of my dragon kin, spread the real truth
that I, Blaze, in all my glory, remain
the wings that I folded so long ago, now begin to test their escape
for even as the dusk falls and as darkness devours the flames
the earth remembers the fire once born
and still trembles at my name
© Ann Bagnall