Gift Poem by Wesley Mincin

Gift

I will tell you of the tale,
of how I claimed this Dragon scale.
An item beyond the wealth of all kings that lived through time.

In the Mountains near my home,
A silver Dragon lived alone.
She guarded treasures in the mountain that no one dared to climb.

We, the people, made a rule:
“Thou shall not climb, thus thee be fool, ”
And strangely many people did and never made it far.

In the Day, she’d be at rest
In the Night, she’d leave her nest
And I would see her sail across the sea of endless stars.

But, one day a plague befell my land
And all, except me, were in Death’s hand
Alone, I was just like the Dragon flying in the sky.

I would not leave the world I knew
A place from childbirth I grew
It was here that I would age and wither and slowly, quietly die

But once upon a gloomy evening,
I received the strangest greeting,
Of a stranger that many strangers thought existed in ancient myths

“I am Nala, ” spoke the Dragon
“And from the mountains I see you’re saddened”
In awe I gazed upon a beauty I have never known

“I’m the last, just like you, ”
she spoke with eyes of sapphire blue.
“But I have lived for far too long and it’s my time to go.”

“Please take this gift, ” sweet Nala said.
“And remember me when I am dead,
for you were the only one who knew the pain I’ve felt for years.”


She plucked from her hide of chrome black plates,
A scale in memory of this dream like date.
She gave it to me so that I’d never feel completely alone.

With that, the Dragon left the Earth
Leaving her scale of limitless worth
A beautiful, priceless plate of mystical, ancient withered chrome

Now you know of Nala’s tale
And how I’ve come to claim this scale
And it will lie with me when I am soon put in my grave

This is a gift kings cannot own
A gift that symbolizes lone
A gift no one can take from me even till my final days.