Draft in the author’s style. This poem was written for Poet in the Battlefield to sit beside the author’s own readings, and is waiting for the author’s review. The commentary is a working draft too.
A shadow crossed the mountain and the sun was blotted out,
And the soldiers on the ridge looked up and heard a mighty shout.
For a dragon of the ancient world, with wings of night and flame,
Was circling o'er the battlefield, and none had known its name.
The catapults were loaded and the archers drew their bows,
But the captain raised his hand and said, hold fire, for it knows.
It looked on all the fighting, and it seemed to bow its head,
Then it flew into the thunderheads, and a silence, deep, was spread.
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Commentary
An ancient dragon arrives at a battlefield, and everyone expects a fight. This eight-line epic gives the fantasy a surprising ending, in which the beast sees the war and leaves it to think.
“A shadow crossed the mountain and the sun was blotted out,” and “a dragon of the ancient world, with wings of night and flame” circles the battlefield. The catapults are loaded and “the archers drew their bows.” But the captain says, “hold fire, for it knows.”
The dragon “looked on all the fighting, and it seemed to bow its head.” Then it flies “into the thunderheads,” and “a silence, deep, was spread” across the field.