Late in the hot afternoon
It slinks from its Lair
Deep in the indigo mist
of the Annamese mountains.
Champing for the Champa
Hunger whet since ancient times
The Dragon comes to devour all
As Time surely did intend
Slowly sliding down each slope
Silently slipping over each ridge;
The jungle a viridian carpet
For a Dragon come to feast
It edges to the very edge;
Conquest so very near
This day it must fulfill
The reason it is here
A deep, thundrous purr
Escapes into the heavy air
The Dragon’s tongue flicks
To taste the tantalising fringe
But No!
For unflinching
And immutable
Is the sighing Sea
Though thin as air
A barrier impregnable
Blankets shoreline
And all that dwell there
Thwarted again on the cusp
Dragon can taste only despair
Exhaling one long, cool gust
And retreats back to the Lair.
- GDH 8/6/2022
