![\"800px-Liao_dynasty_stone_dragon_sculpture\"](\"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/800px-Liao_dynasty_stone_dragon_sculpture.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Atenlea is a peaceful place,
\nbut still a place of man,
\n& deep inside, man fears nature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fury.<\/p>\n
So, from the very first distant clamber
\nthey take note.<\/p>\n
It starts as a distant murmur of tumbling rocks
\nthat perks ears & lifts heads.
\nA clatter of rockslide
\nwhere no rocks are loose.
\nSoon it grows into the rumble
\nof an earthquake or tornado.<\/p>\n
Like a field of busy mice suddenly met
\nby a family of hungry cats, they flee.
\nSlow & weak
\ntrail behind the scatter of raucous panic.
\nIn minutes Atenlea is left
\nwith those few who cannot run, the left behinds.<\/p>\n
Gradually they limp & crawl
\nto benches that line
\nthe north side of the town square.
\nSeven humans gathered
\nto fight fear & meet fate.
\nThey console
\n& ready themselves for anything.
\nAnything except what greets them.<\/p>\n
The noise & trembling ground
\nare no work of nature.
\nThey come with the Cobblestone Dragon.
\nHard round sections of his being
\nclatter & rumble & roar
\n& freely roll within.<\/p>\n
His long thick tail follows
\nas horizontal avalanche
\nas he walks slowly & deliberately
\nplacing each step carefully
\nto avoid destroying the city
\nor the retinue of unhearing creatures
\nthat surround him.<\/p>\n
Fully in the town square, he stops.
\nSeven stare, blinking & unsure,
\nconfused at a dragon with an entourage
\nas diverse as a fever dream, cleaning
\nthe tracks of the Cobblestone Dragon.<\/p>\n
Quietly the dragon speaks.
\nHe asks who & why. Surprised
\nthe seven speak haltingly at first.
\nBut as the strangest town meeting ever
\nwears on
\nthey find sharing life stories easy.<\/p>\n
When they are through, silence falls
\nuntil one timid & bent-legged child
\nasks the dragon for his story.<\/p>\n
Silently he ponders
\nhis troubled but welcome existence.
\nHe travels once more
\nthe long road of his past.
\nHe begins where he was conjured,
\npieced together from commonest remains.<\/p>\n
Suddenly
\ncharged with life
\nhe was born thrashing & roaring.<\/p>\n
All fled, even she who birthed him.
\nHe was alone.<\/p>\n
Until he met other dragonkind
\nhe didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know
\nhow slow & awkward he was among his kin.<\/p>\n
Only with time did he understand
\nthe dignity denied him in creation.
\nThat realization began the quest
\nto gain what was missing.<\/p>\n
On the way he learned that
\nevery dignity, like every face
\nis unique.<\/p>\n
Ages have passed since then
\nbut he finds no rest.
\nAnd now
\nrecalling his long & difficult life
\nhe is certain he has no words
\nto make these humans understand.<\/p>\n
His magics
\nlike the stones of his creation
\nare of the smallest & commonest kind,
\nbut he believes they will suffice.
\nFrom within comes a vision
\ncharged with the heat of his desire
\n& tailored to each who see.<\/p>\n
Visions would be enough but he does not stop.
\nHe ignores the drain of his exertions
\n& reaches within once more.<\/p>\n
With a touch
\nhe heals these humans
\nwho have given
\nto his heart & knowledge.<\/p>\n
For a time he rests
\nbut his desire never fails.
\nHis quest resumes
\nwith a slow walk away from the city.
\nLittle has changed
\nsave that his retinue
\nhas increased by seven.<\/p>\n
Days after his departure
\nthe populace struggles home
\namazed to find Atenlea intact.<\/p>\n
The clever among them
\nfind traces of the dragon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s passing.<\/p>\n
Eventually, seven are missed.<\/p>\n
Conclusions are drawn & stories told.
\nThroughout the countryside
\nguards & lookouts are posted.
\nThose brave enough, are sent to scout
\nbut they find nothing.<\/p>\n
In time danger fades & memory grows.<\/p>\n
Seven stones are set in the graveyard.
\nSongs are written.
\nTears are cried.<\/p>\n
And as years pass
\nthe day\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s events become
\nbut one more chapter
\nin the bloody legend
\nof the Cobblestone Dragon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Atenlea is a peaceful place, but still a place of man, & deep inside, man fears nature\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fury. So, from the very first distant clamber they take note. It starts as a distant murmur of tumbling rocks that perks ears & lifts heads. A clatter of rockslide where no rocks are loose. Soon it grows […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1153"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1162,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1153\/revisions\/1162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.polutexni.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}