The Last Flight

Oh watch - my son – the dragons’ fly,
Watch their silhouettes on high.
Watch their tails, their scales, their wings;
Remember all these different things.
Watch now: they are soaring higher,
Watch their parting puffs of fire.
And as you watch, give one small tear,
For this has been their final year.

Before our fathers reached these shores,
Retreating from their ancient wars,
The dynasties of dragons old
Sat here upon their treasured gold.
Here they lay in mountain caves,
Caverns delved by dwarfish slaves,
Here they ruled with splendid peace,
But this – alas – was soon to cease.

Our ancestors cannot be blamed
For marching in where dragons reigned,
They had been fighting far too long
Against the hordes that were too strong.
Their choice was die like fools or run
And so ‘twas here new homes begun;
New homes set up beside this sea,
New homes - they hoped - where peace could be.

These beasts that slept through winter’s days
Knew nothing of our father’s ways
Until they rose for spring’s first flight
And many huts then met their sight.
And then to men the Winged War came,
As from their peaks they dived in flame;
But these same men fought back with zeal
And showed the worms the demon steel.

They’d never met the metal foe,
But of its pain they soon did know.
It let their blood in many fights
And bought dark death with savage bites.
Their anguished cries cut through the air
And sorrow filled the dragon’s lair.
At last they’d met their match in might,
A match that brought their end in sight.

You know the heroes of those days,
Of Kraust’s and Thed’s inspiring ways,
Of battles, leaders, deeds and dates,
Determining the dragons’ fates.
But give – I ask – a little thought
For those ‘gainst which these heroes fought,
Like us they had a right to life,
But to their hearts we plunged the knife.

Through centuries our victory came
And much of it we won in shame;
We smashed their eggs and stabbed the ill,
Used every way to wound or kill.
Until last winter while they slept
Our ‘heroes’ to their caverns crept,
And there the entrance they did block,
Entombing dragons in the rock.

Now victory is here at last,
Now dragon dynasties are past,
The end of three dark hundred years
Filled full with fight and fears and tears;
But ‘fore you dance and sing with joy
I pray you pray my little boy
That those who with the wind do flee
Will find their peace across the sea.