We have a fun feature for you today, poet friends. Recently, Elizabeth Crawford, of Soul’s Music,
Annell Livingston of SomeThings
I Think About, and Myrna Rosa of Daily Spirit wrote poems about dragons.
Elizabeth often writes wonderful conversations with her own personal dragons,
so I was thrilled when Annell and Myrna wrote dragon poems as well. I can never resist a feature full of dragons! Let’s dive in, but carefully. We don’t want to
get singed by hot dragon breath!
Marananthaheth
by Elizabeth Crawford
Marananthaheth?
“Yez, little
one…”
Do Dragons dance?
“Ummm, why
yezz we do.
When we fly.
We flip, we frolic,
how do you zzay?
We loopdaloop.
Iz that not danzing?”
Yes, I guess so…
But do you hear
music, when you do
that?
“Muzzic?
Umm,
do you mean
like when you zzing
a szertain zong,
and move your body
to the rhythmz
of the wordsz?”
Yes, like that…
“Little one,
the Univerze
is filled with muzic.
Every planet, each sztar,
zings a different
szong. And, we dragonz
hear them all.
Do you know
that the treez,
here on your world
zing, each one, a different
zong, and how do you szay?
Harmonizze?”
Really? How I wish
I had the ears
of a dragon.
She leans
down with a smile
and says, “We all have been
given giftz and limitationz.
Each szervez a purpoze.
But, know with
a szertainty, that you
have the ear
of thizz dragon.”
Elizabeth Crawford
4/18/2018
Marananthaheth
by Elizabeth Crawford
Elizabeth: On the spur of the moment, I agreed to do
one word prompts for the month of April, poem a day challenge. Got about two
weeks into it, and started feeling that draggy, tired, why am I doing this to
myself feeling. So, I put up the word "dragon", for the next day's
prompt. As soon as I did that, I heard the first stanza of this conversation
and started laughing.
Then realized that, for the most part, the dragons,
especially Heth, have stepped into that challenge to revive my willingness to
continue, every time I've attempted it.
The rest of the poem fell into place quite quickly
and was very satisfying when it was finished. I was back to knowing I was in
the right place, doing the right thing for me.
Sherry: I always enjoy the deep truth that your dragons speak to you, Elizabeth. You are lucky to have your own personal dragons.
I loved it when Annell wrote the following poem. Let's take a peek:
Annell, in front of one of her art pieces
at an art show in Santa Fe
Of
course the word is dragon
Your
"familiar"
He goes
where you go
He waits
for you to catch up
He has
lived long
The
subject of many tales
He once
belonged to a man from China
That is
where he learned to read Chinese
And
speak the words in his own way
He
learned to fly ages ago
He lived
in a castle
Loved by
a queen
Played
with children on the grass
Few
people pay attention to him anymore
He flies
around the neighborhood
Eats
small dogs for lunch
He is
what is called a gentle dragon
He will
never eat you
I
wonder, do you fly with him
Do you
take him to school
He is as
old as can be
Seen
many things
But
loves only you
Annell Livingston April
18, 2018
Annell: I
think in the back of my mind, I was thinking of Alice Walker’s book, The Temple
of My Familiar. A book I read many years ago. In this
book, each character is searching for his/her true identity, and their past
serves as both an obstacle and the key to knowing their real place in history,
society, and the world. This book is full of many beautiful ideas and
meanings about life, feminism, love and spirituality. I cannot say
how, but the ideas of this book began to weave with my ideas about dragons.
I saw
the dragon as a metaphor or symbol that related to our history.
Each life spun out of the ancestors, many tales to be told.
Historically the dragon is a symbol of power, strength, and good
luck. He/she has control over water, rainfall, typhoons and floods.
In this
poem, I was writing to Elizabeth’s prompt, for Ladies in Waiting. I know
that Elizabeth is especially fond of the dragon as her spirit animal. I
wanted to make him very personal. He has lived many years, and at one
time belonged to a man in China.
I think
I just dove in and he came alive, he told me about his life, and how people
don’t pay much attention to him anymore.
And then
as if I were talking to Elizabeth as a child, and I ask does she fly with him,
and does she take him to school? And I acknowledge , her personal dragon
loves only her.
Sherry: A truly delightful tale, and poem. I love it! Let's wrap up with Myrna's dragons, who are feeling a bit sad today.
Myrna's dragons,
created by Martha Roditti
A long,
long, long time ago
There
lived a happy dragon family
It
relied on the power of magic
That
prevailed all around them
Vibrant
greens, blues, yellows, reds
All the colors in the spectrum of light
Lived in
everything
Including
their hearts
Which
beat to the rhythm of rainbows
One day
the magic changed
The
dragon family was petrified
When
colors of a darkened future were revealed
The
dragons saw through space and time
Trees,
plants, animals, flowers
Slumped
until they died
Humans
who refused to leave died too
The ones
who left never found another paradise
All
waters turned brown,
Grey the ground
Earth
slowly wilted
The happy
dragons were transformed
Into
dragons that could only weep
Knowing the world would end
in dark permanent sleep
Their scales like raindrops fell
Because
magic had no power over hell
Because
when you know your Mother will die
All a
dragon can do is cry
Myrna Rosa, April 22, 2018
I made no attempt to infuse hope in my poem
today, though I am hopeful for this earth. But I just wanted to
acknowledge the sadness I feel for earth as it endures...us.
Myrna: My poem about the dragons was inspired by
sculptured ceramic dragons created by my friend, Martha Roditti. She is a
creative, talented artist who typically makes whimsical pieces. However,
with these dragons, she diverted from her usual fun style and, in my opinion,
produced a touching, evocative set of very sad dragons.
When I first saw these, I immediately felt the grief
of these poor creatures who are helpless to save the world they love. The
art that most impresses us is art that reflects and expresses something that is
already within us. That is definitely the case for me and it led me to
try to express in writing the sorrow in me, which they project.
Usually, when I write about the state of our world,
I try to at least end a poem with some glimmer of hope. Not this
time. I allowed myself to wallow in despair at the risk of fueling my
fears too much. It was a way for me to confront the depth of my dread
realistically. Hopefully, I let it out, now I can let it go and work to nurture
my optimism.
Sherry: I know exactly how you feel, Myrna. Those of us who are aware carry such grief for the state of the world, caused by humans. All living beings suffer because of one specie's mistakes. This poem rings very true for me. I try to hold onto hope, but there is a lot of pain as well, as the flood waters rise, the Arctic melts, and the forests burn or are logged to extinction. And the animals flee in terror. Sigh.
Thank you, Elizabeth, Annell and Myrna, for sharing your dragon poems with us today. They each have something important to tell us, and we love them very much. Do come back, my friends, to see who we talk to next. Who knows? It might be you!
