Your duties were light,
you were spoiled a little,
but the holes
in the soles
of your shoes
told me you were willing.
Dark nights on watch
for mornings that came
and never soon enough.
We’d break up the fire
scatter the dirt and ash.
You fear the dragons
and I tell you,
“They can’t climb out
and burn our flesh
if we’ve destroyed their portal.”
We decide to tread forth
on the main road instead
of moving stealthily through
the trees. I think on this later
as the single moment
everything went wrong.
We notice the road disappearing
beneath ice and snow.
My cold heart feels as if it’s
being buried with it, to be trampled
by unsuspecting travelers
You keep walking and singing.
I keep casting nervous glances around.
Maybe the dragons are there,
smoke seeping from their nostrils,
waiting to burn your flesh
so, they can have ash to eat.
Perhaps all along,
I’ve been the dragon
and you’ve been the meat.
