The Dragon’s Pavilion
Part I
Edge of the bar I sat nursing a drink
Searching for reasons cruel life at the brink
Heads it ends here or tales it goes on
When in walked a fellow I knew him as John
Sat down beside me and ordered a sip
Asked me if I would be up to a trip
The pay is amazing, adventure is bliss
Lucky for you to be meeting like this
What are the details John please be specific
Well, he said wryly, we cross the pacific
You know I hate boats, last time it was moats
I won’t ride on goats and I eat more than oats
A million a day you get paid on the way
If that ain’t enough I don’t know what to say
It does sound intriguing you’ve got my attention
There must be some danger that you didn’t mention
Embarcadero the ship sails at dawn
The good ship Iguana be sure to get on
No room for luggage so just bring your skills
Really tough hiking and steep rocky hills
Slapped down a crown royal bag on the fount
Chock full of baubles enormous amount
Up from the barstool he walked out the door
Newly come wealthy I ordered one more...
Joseph John Racano
https://www.facebook.com/reptilianscales
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/12/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
PT II
The water had white caps both foamy and thick
I’d long lost my sea legs the swells had me sick
But night on the ocean is brimming with stars
The salt air a heavenly respite from bars
Early next day in the cool of the morning
The dolphins leapt up and one offered me warning
‘Beware cool seduction of bauble or million
Don’t fall asleep in the Dragon’s Pavilion’
Landfall came after a month and a day
Moored the Iguana a mile from the bay
Amber skinned beauties who never wore shoes
Greeted us in their outrigger canoes
Set up a tent beyond reach of the waves
Two lost to scurvy committed to graves
Clothing was set soak and wet by a fire
After it dried we lay down to retire
Morning came swiftly and shooed the mosquitos
Sweet amber ladies made seafood burritos
Gazing toward inland and over the trees
A hot barren rockscape 100 degrees
We finished up breakfast and said our goodbyes
Great was the sadness in almond shaped eyes
‘When we return we’ll stay with you a while’
Not understanding they only could smile
Joseph John Racano
https://www.facebook.com/reptilianscales
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/12/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
Part III
The trek was long and hard you betcha
Lesser men would’ve ridden a stretcher
Off the beach and through the palms
Salting off leeches and cradling small arms
That night camp was pitched on stones
John read runes and black cat bones
A parchment stretched across his lap
Illegible scribbles on a wrinkled map
This is where a bamboo bridge
Sways in the wind from a thousand-foot ridge
Tap and tap he hit the map
With an index finger just like that
Cross that bridge and find the treasure
Amassed by kings at the Pharaoh’s pleasure
But first we have to cross expanse
Where twirling winds of the devils dance
At dawn we double checked our gear
Tasted brass, a sign of fear
Igneous rock like hot black glass
Steered us to a mountain pass
Bit my own hand made it bleed from the knuckle
I choked on the gasses and felt my knees buckle
Once in a lifetime one chance in a million
And there in the distance, the Dragon’s Pavilion
Joseph John Racano
https://www.facebook.com/reptilianscales
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/12/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
Part IV
Our small expedition had dwindled to eight
The rickety bridge couldn’t handle our weight
We spent a long moment suspended on high
Convinced to a man pretty soon we would die
The dry rot had weakened the weathered bamboo
And one guide was lost when a board snapped in two
On such expeditions one never gets bored
He saved himself pulling a parachute cord
He landed quite safely a half-mile down
Gave some thought to climbing but then turned around
A close call like that surely gave him a scare
Turned back toward the beach, said ‘I’ll wait for you there!’
We arrived at the portal and stopped for the night
The monolith bathed us in shimmering light
Four stories high stood the dragon head’s roof
Vampire bats hung between every tooth
Inside the mouth I saw stairs leading down
Torches descended to where they bent round
Crickets were chirping their dark symphony
Why I was here was a mystery to me
All through the night came a drip and an echo
Inside the walls were patrolled by the gecko
I had first watch and sat stroking my whiskers
Listening below to inaudible whispers
Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/12/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
Part V
We rejoined our quest in the dark of the night
Avoiding our eyes being blinded by light
Descending the stairway with great trepidation
Blind monkeys chittered with anticipation
Exiting one world to enter another
Not unlike leaving the womb of your mother
Piano key steps leading down to abyss
Every so often a spiral or twist
Spiders and scorpions littered the ground
Often the men thought of turning around
But shiny gold torch handles beckoned us on
Revealing blue gemstones the size of your palm
Some filled their pockets right up to the brim
Making their chance at returning quite slim
Weighing them down and making them tired
One fell asleep and soon after expired
All we could do was to leave him right there
Spending eternity rich on the stair
I thought of the dolphin who warned of a million
I won’t fall asleep in the Dragon’s Pavilion
Finally the stairway led onto a rise
Where out in the darkness I thought I heard cries
And there on a nest of sticks thick as my legs
Sat half a dozen gargantuan eggs
Joseph John Racano
Another installment of the ‘Poetry of Dragons’ collection
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/13/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
Part VI
Each of the eggs stood eleven feet tall
Something was moving inside of them all
Using a torch I could see in the light
Inside the egg he who died here last night!
Some kind of magic a dragon possessed
Drew life from the body, the egg did the rest
He who would slumber will feed a reptilian
Beware not to sleep in the Dragon’s Pavilion
Every large egg had a sleeper inside
Sometime or other they slept and they died
Now they were meal worms inside of a keg
And here came a baby to feast on the egg
Seven of us had our backs to the wall
Hoping that he wouldn’t see us at all
This baby dragon who squeaked like a mouse
Twenty feet tall and as big as a house
He cracked the egg open and drank from the top
Nothing could keep him from drinking the slop
Cute baby dragon teeth big pointy ears
That’s when she landed, the sum of our fears
Scaly behemoth came out of the dark
Sounding a roar like a hell-hound’s half-bark
Suddenly lifted her nose in the air
No way too fool her, she knew we were there
Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/06/13/2020
The Dragon’s Pavilion
Conclusion, Part VII
Backs to the wall we ascended the stair
High tailed it out of this dangerous lair
Mothering dragon had wanted to sear
But stifled ignition with baby so near
She-dragon gave her cute baby a cleaning
Also gave fear for our lives a new meaning
Upward and outward we climbed like the dickens
Soiling our pants and quite proud to be chickens
On the way up we extinguished all torches
Re-lit by witches who sat on their porches
Run! they cried after us shaking their brooms
All the blind monkeys ran back to their rooms
One and again we spilled into the sun
Quite out of breath and with nowhere to run
She-dragon wanted to follow us out
But cries from her baby made her turn about
Many embarked on this journey for gold
Few could return so the story be told
Of prophecies, dolphins and gemstones worth millions
Monkeys and witches and dragon pavilions
epilogue:
So if you should find yourself high on a ridge
Dangling one-handed by rope from a bridge
Be sure to return to the beach with your booty
And offer a gem to an amber-skinned beauty!
Joseph John Racano
The End
The Dragon's Pavilion
