Draconian Meditations

So many shades of venom

Spring to my tongue

To my mind

That I have mind enough

To mind what thoughts race in yours

I am thankful

But ere long the walls cannot contain

These riotous inmates of pain

And leaping like the young ruiders on the veld

They'll break from me

They'll break free

They'll break upon you like waves on the strand

And break your walls of sand

And I will console myself

And say that you pushed me to it

I shall comfort myself

And say that I am just human

But I shall not deceive myself

With these or a thousand and one other lies

For I also know myself

And how I savor each turn of the screw

So build your walls of sand

And I shall build up the venom

Until each shade is perfectly formed

Each syllable like the blade of Brutus

The heart of Judas opens to all

Compassion stays this hand for now

But her arms are ever-wide

And her wrists are ever-weak

Take to heart this warning given

Rise not the dragon's bile and derision