dragons (R.I.P.)

dragons (R.I.P.)

There's a ghost in my lungs
And it sighs in my sleep,
Wraps itself around my tongue,
As it softly speaks…

“I’m Not Calling You a Liar,” Florence + the Machine

i am in no hurry to slay the dragon

these beasts lurking in my mind

occasionally stalking a dream

but mostly my ever-present demons

i am in no hurry to slay the dragon

these beasts lurking in my mind

whether with somnolent pills

or perpetual sessions on the couch

i am in no hurry to slay the dragon

these beasts lurking in my mind

because on that other side of slayed

the only thing i’ll be is rest in peace

living you see for me is this waking fantasy

a quilt a collage a paper mache a cacophony

without the dragon and beasts i might forget

and walk into this room or that as if i belong

novocaines of sweet therapy and tranquil pills

remove the ache yes but erase my longing too

i am a bachelor committed to boulder and hill

always wed completely monogamous to you

who became only the memory of you and us

lurking in my heart you fire-breathing dragon

furnace of my alienation my desert dwelling

cavernous are these depths echoing you you

i find a slip of paper and a pen

and i write frantically

something i long to share

with you only only you

rendered gray and hollow

and solitary as a dragon

there like shattered glass

i force myself to sign this note

like all the others

R.I.P.