I wrote the following some time ago as a ‘gift’ for a friend who commented on something in my personal blog – some kind of offer of poems or stories for the first few people to comment. We both like dragons so that was my theme. The poem references books, TV shows and films but the alien dragons who came to help Anne McCaffrey’s Pern, the television series Stargate Atlantis and the Star Wars films have no existence other than in my imagination, so this is fanfic poetry in only the most peripheral sense. I hope there is no need for familiarity with the various fictional worlds in order to understand the poem – they merely give my dragons a contemporary cultural context and perhaps add an extra layer of meaning to people who are fans of those works.

The dragons of fantasy

(for Zellieh)

When they were fighting thread and dying, when they were going between and tiring,
When they were squabbling and sighing, the other dragons came rushing, flying
Out of the stars, out of the skies, trumpeting softly, rolling their eyes,
Teaching them how to be better and braver and how to preserve their fine planet for ever.
Dragons and riders and lizards all bowed to the dragons who came in a shimmering cloud.

When they were fighting the Wraith and dying, when they were rushing through gates and tiring,
When they were studying hard and sighing, a cloud of dragons came rushing, flying
Out of the stars, out of the skies, trumpeting softly, rolling their eyes,
Teaching them how to be better and stronger, how to defeat the Wraith for longer.
Scientists, airmen, all gave praise to the dragons who’d helped extend their days.

When they were fighting each other and dying, when they were rebels, outlaws, tiring,
When they were giving up hope and sighing, the alien dragons came rushing, flying,
Out of the stars, out of the skies, trumpeting softly, rolling their eyes,
Teaching them how to be better and smarter, how to defeat an old empire and rule there.
Warriors, robots and royalty all gave thanks to the dragons who’d answered their call.

Then the dragons who came from the alien worlds looked at the people they’d lulled with their help,
Bowed to the north and bowed to the east, bowed to each other and began their feast.

I have other gift-poems to post gradually, then I might throw the offer open to my readers here.