I think you’re a dreamer like me,
And dragons fly thick through the air.
Come inside; I’ve prepared safety
Or they’ll drag you off to their lair.

They sail in on dark leather wings,
Beating dust up into a gyre,
Muscled bodies taut with strong strings
Of hard scales, snouts aglow with fire,
Burning wakes of great smoking rings,
Piling carnage on a burnt pyre,
Crunching bones of peasants and kings
And whoever else they desire.

Sometimes their purple scales can glow
With golden accents like the sun,
In their deep eyes, great wisdoms show
Like all destiny set for one.
Somehow their visage seems to grow;
It’s useless for comparison
But I can’t make the vision go
Great beauty seems to weigh a ton.

Once, I heard of ones that are green,
Though I suspect someone has lied,
Friendly dragons that are not mean.
I haven’t found them, haven’t tried.
Quiet giants who sit and preen,
Who’d rather talk than see us fried,
Cute, cuddly ones who could have been
So different from those I have spied.

My dragons are crows in the sky
Who do not come down for the dead,
A dream about which I’m not shy
They said with a shake of their head,
Gave me pills but wouldn’t say why
And shuffled me off into bed.
But who it is I did not cry
That are the real dragons I dread.

If not one of them, you might be
Human. Come in. Hope I’m not rash
And you’re a dreamer just like me
‘Tho I can see your talons flash.