Red Dragon

Finally beat the drums loud enough,

You had to learn,

You walk without rhythm,

It won’t attract the wyrm. 

 

It’s the Chinese finger game in reverse,

A trap that wasn’t designed for you,

It has my name all over it.

 

Each word turns its blade back on me,

They come out soft but turn hard when they hang in the air

Or am I just hammer forever looking for a nail

Pursuing that endless chase

Looking for more outcomes than blunt force can produce.

 

I could see she wanted me to talk to her,

Where would that end that I hadn’t already been,

Just another brick waiting for the wall.

 

Enjoy the phantasy,

Let the trumpets fanfare your entrance,

Because the King wears no clothes.

 

Empty steps down a road to nowhere

Where they nod their heads but don’t hear your words.

Your words lack meaning

Unless someone wants to hear what you have to say,

You can’t add water to the cup that’s already full.

 

To many midday baths makes a man weak,

Need to fling off the weakness,

Back life into the corner,

Let it howl and regurgitate itself

Again and again until you find the end,

Then chop off the head,

Stop the phoenix,

Let it be consumed in its own fire.

 

Leave the weak to be reborn again,

Let them draw a new face on the old body,

Leave them to walk about like sock puppets,

Step forward and embrace the rain,

Look with face forward into the howling wind,

Know with each step you both move away and toward,

Shun the ‘undiscovered country’,

Future has no form

It is everything and nothing.

 

Is it fear that stops me;

Your pretty smiles aren’t for me,

They’re for a shade of what once was with a dash of never wanted.

 

I look through you,

I focus on the path on the other side,

I flip back open the compass,

I let it guide me once more,

I follow true North,

No more distractions.