Dragon Sighting by Patricia Hemminger
"There were giants in the earth in those days" —Genesis 6:4
Up out of the dream world
of ghosts and gardens,
pterodactyl-like dragons
flock along the horizon, honk like geese
in the mist, startle the chipmunk
sitting still as a prayerful monk.
The old rocking horse
that the children rode tilts
in the attic, neighs as they pass.
Their wings of grey skin, tough
like leather sails, thrust air
into waves that storm over ground,
knock beanstalks down, crack trunks
of ash. Thuds wake up fairies, fragile
wings sparkling like prisms that stiffen
to lift them as warthogs snort
down the path, and giants, recalled
in the Bible, stumble over the hill.
Bio
The experience of growing up in rural North Yorkshire, UK along with her science
background and love of nature informs and inspires Patricia Hemminger’s poetry. She
holds a Ph.D. in chemistry and is a graduate of NYU’s Science, Health and
Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and of Drew University’s MFA Poetry and
Poetry in Translation Program. Her chapbook What Do We Know of Time? was
published by Finishing Line Press in October 2022.
Author's note
I have often wondered whether dragons might really have existed, since they occur so
commonly in the myths of many cultures. I like a quote from J.R.R. Tolkien: I believe
legends and myths are largely made of truth. Then, almost as verification of this I was
reading the Bible to a friend who was losing his sight and when we came to the line in
Genesis 6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days it was like a revelation. Why
shouldn’t there have been giants—and fairies and dragons? So this is the poem that
emerged.
