The Last Dragon

I wanted to share another poem of mine that has been published. Previously, I shared my poem, Daughter of Water, which is part of an elemental series of poems I wrote, and I do want to share the other poems in that series when I finish editing the other three. This poem is inspired by my love of dragons, and they actually play a big role in the novel I’m currently writing, so it seemed like a good time to share this one. I hope you enjoy it!

Lapis scales rise and fall,

     a flap of wings—

casts a silhouette of flight beneath

     a pool of scarlet sunlight,

Her onyx claws seize

     on tender bones of a sickly cockatrice,

the snapping of its neck

     rings through her jaw,

a single swallow

     leaves the taste of blight bounding across her tongue,

her wings thrash savagely

as she abandons the corpse

     in a thicket of brittle trees,

Disease pilfers another meal,

Her copper eyes

     flickering like the exchanging of coin

     scans the meadow—

She releases a peal of amaranth flames 

     as hunger blazes through her.

The days continue to wend-

     her scales rust

and eyes corrode,

Death clings to her

     as she is extinguished from the world

          and flickers into legend.