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The Dragons of
Michael Whelan
The images
displayed on this site are copyrighted material and owned
by the artist who painted them.
I do not sell any of the art work represented.
Links have been provided when ever possible to authorized
sites where you might be able to obtain copies.
Michael Whelan's Art of
the Imagination Gallery
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Why Dragons?
The smoke still hangs heavily over the meadow,
Circling down from the mouth of the cave,
While kneeling in prayer, full armored and
haloed,
The lone knight is feeling uncertainly brave.
The promise of victory sung in the churches,
Is hardly a murmur out here in the air.
All that he hears is the thud of his faint heart
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whelan_M2.JPG (64K) 394 x 553 |
Echoing growls
of the beast in its lair.
The steel of his armor would flash in the
sunlight,
Except that the smoke has quite hidden the sky.
The red of the cross on his breast should sustain
him,
Except-he suspects-it's a perfect bull's-eye.
The folk of the village who bet on the outcome
Have somehow all fled from the scene in dismay.
They'll likely return in a fortnight or longer,
He doubts that they'll be of much help on this
day.
And then-with a scream-the fell beast of the
cavern
Flings its foul body full out of the cave.
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The knight
forgets prayers and churches and haloes
And tries to remember just how to be brave.
The webs on the wings of the dragon are reddened,
With blood or with sunlight, the knight is not
sure.
The head of the beast is a silver-toothed
nightmare,
Its tongue drips a poison for which there's no
cure.
He thrusts with his sword and he pokes with his
gauntlets,
He knees with his poleyn, kicks out with his
greave.
He'd happily give all the gold in his pocket
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whelan_M4.JPG (47K) 496 x 795 |
If only the
dragon would quietly leave.
There's smoke and there's fire, there's wind and
there's growling,
There's screams from the knight, and his sobs and
his cries.
And when the smoke clears, there's the sound of
dry heaving
As one of the two of them messily dies.
Of course it's the knight who has won this hard
battle,
Who wins in a poem beaten out on a forge
Of human devising and human invention
BUT If there's no dragon-then there's no Saint
George. |
The images displayed on this site are copyrighted
material and owned by the artist who painted them.
I do not sell any of the art work represented.
Links have been provided when ever possible to authorized
sites where you might be able to obtain copies.
Michael Whelan's Art of
the Imagination Gallery
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| Thoughts to ponder and contemplate:
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