With thanks to Alison Marchant, Kate Rolison and the Together! 2012 CIC Pop-Up Poetry Club. These poems and pictures were created as part of The Kitchen Carnival 2024.

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This is not the Endo: Kitchen Carnival

Come one, come all to our kitchen carnival!
With delightful dragons, enough to get Tolkien’s tongue wagging.
You don’t need nothing fancy, just old things from your pantry.
We can all be disabled kings, wearing homemade dragon wings
We will dance sitting in our chairs and let lose all our cares.
We will sing with our community no matter our musicality.
We will show them what carnival is for and let our disabled dragons roar!

Pippa Marshall: I Went in Search of a Dragon

I went in search of a dragon
and was shown a little lizard,
bright green and scaly
with a wide smiling mouth.

I said, not quite like that,
and it doesn’t have to be green.
I was shown a slow worm,
copper brown and cooling under a rock.

I had hoped I was getting closer
but I was further away.
I said, I’m looking for a dragon with wings,
and was shown dragonflies all day.

***

Glory Sengo: Dragons and Colours

The dragons change to red and green
And then try to stamp their feet on the street
And try to scare people
And eat everyone
And the dragon changed to yellow and blue
And then it tried to eat more people on the bus
Then on the train
And the dragon changed into pink
And it tried to eat more people in a car
And then it tried to have a cigarette.

***

Robert Punton: Dragons

Dragons do not need scales to make you wail
Dragons come in multiple colours red, blue, yellow, and green
Many colours can be seen if you take the time to look
I knew a dragon who wanted to become involve in conservation
They would not let her into the debate
the reputation of her kind went before her
She cried all night; she said why do you think of us as bad?
We only want to do our thing save the planet from the clowns
Do you not realise this is my home too
We cannot all fly off, find another planet
That is just a flight of fiction, created to frighten your children.

This is not the Endo: A Rainbow of Dragons

Red dragons, blue dragons, some as small as a shoe dragons.
Orange dragons, pink dragons, some that never seem to blink dragons.
Purple dragons, green dragons, some that try not to be mean dragons.
Black dragons, grey dragons, some that think we are prey dragons!

Yellow dragons, violet dragons some that are pilot dragons.
Brown dragons, white dragons, some that want to be knights dragons.
Lilac dragons, teal dragons, some that love to wear heels dragons.
Turquoise dragons, maroon dragons, some as big as the moon dragons.

Lime dragons, slate dragons, some that are always late dragons.
Cocoa dragons, plum dragons, do they have scales on their bums dragons?
Pine dragons, gold dragons, some impossibly old dragons.
Emerald dragons, coral dragons, some that only like to quarrel dragons.

Indigo dragons, tan dragons, some that are trans dragons.
Cyan dragons, seaweed dragons, some that wear tweed dragons.
Lavender dragons, topaz dragons, some that listen to jazz dragons.
So many dragons, so many shades and all these dragons using mobility aids.

***

Jay Joshi: Dragon and Colour 

The dragon was a beautiful bright red blood cell and could be seen pulsating.

The red dragon was friendly to the people who lived in the place where this stunning red dragon lived.

The only time that the red dragon breathed orange fire to that who tried to harm or hurt the red dragon lived peacefully in his slumber.

***

Zillah: We are we are all dragons.

Argent light.
Aurora fire.
A volcano of mind
Said she, she said.
Blue, blue, only blue.
The sky one on one
As we lay wasting.
Waiting,
the end will come.
Back in their lives
They will bring the end, end.
On Mars, our volcanic
friends come.
Gifts of fire
Breathing fire
We are all Demons, said she
and she said, and
we have the same adversity.
Antonio, David, Dima.
Dragon never forgets.
Flying between
Clouds.
Bringing fear
and living alone.
Circling the villagers
3096, 3097, it will be the same.
Into aquamarine.
Shimmers, the silver light
Never ending full.
It flies, it flies.
Timeless.
3095.
Breathing blue fire
Hydra has turquoise eyes
that light up.
It moves.
It moves.
Our leviathan.
and must be vanquished.
Green, not red.
Against the wall.
Tamed
Living
Sleeping
stretching, yawning.
Serpent, convivial
Never, never beloved…
Narrow, curvilinear.
Dragon moves, moves.

Dawn Barber: Dragons in Flight

The dragons are flying through the sky
Some are angry, some are mad,
And some are really sad
They blow out fire to the sun
And the colour of the sky
Turns orange, red and yellow
Then they fly onto the clouds
And flap their wings
The dragons think they are kings
In a magical world on flight.

***

Dwain Bryan: Paper Dragon

The paper dragon is walking down the street
Blowing fire and flapping his wings
Because he wants to fly higher
The flying paper dragon
Should be more clever
He doesn’t want to set himself on fire
The colourful paper dragon
Looks quite smart
He has a suit and tie on
And his will of the day is quite strong
He’s going to a job interview
To be a pilot
To be a flying dragon I suppose
He sits down in front of his employee
And he tells him his history and past stories
The employee asked him
Why do you want this job
Because I have wings and desire
And my ambitions are much higher
If I get this job I’ll be flying people all around
And I’ll have company all around
I’ll have people to look after
And they look at me like a responsible father
I’ll be on that plane flying high
Just me and my co-pilot way up in the sky
Passengers buckle up and put their seat belts on
And the air stewardess says we’ll be there soon not too long.

***

Robert Punton: Paper Dragon

Paper dragons are tougher than you think
Do not disrespect, dismiss, or disregard these beasts
In Japan, the paper dragon (origami) symbolises
Wisdom and balance rather than raw power
Japan has honoured the dragon for centuries
While Chinese dragons represent power and strength
Which can bring fear amongst humankind
The Japanese paper dragon brings harmony to humanity
We all need wisdom and balance in our lives
The paper dragon calms the spirit charms the heart
Just remember never to leave your paper dragon
Out in the rain then human and dragon can live
in happy harmony for ever more.

Angus McKenzie-Davie: Paper Dragons and Dreams (v2)

Four in the morning but still I cannot sleep
The hoar frost catches on the blankets
The constant din of the scales of power
Piledriver of pain

We grew to enjoy the taste of paraffin
Sucking the air from our lungs
Using the power of the sun to set the hills on fire
A hazel pendulum working widdershins
Dowsing for rods and shining guest ants
And patriotic Americans
As Chinese dragons chased us away

We were eating fire for breakfast
Watching the image of your face in the drowning village
Things we believe
Things we are told
And the infinite
Your birth was my miracle
Life grew from fiery beginnings.

***

Pippa Marshall: Following the Dragon’s Footsteps

Of course, everyone said
I shouldn’t try to find you
once your scales had started to form
and you retreated to your lair
up in the mountains.

Everyone said there would be fire,
but in your footprints, I found
brilliant shards of ice,
iridescent as butterfly wings
and hard as nails.

I’d heard you only hunted at night,
but as I got closer, I noticed
the locals sitting in front of their porches all day
with pitchforks. One offered me an axe,
but I declined, preferring love.

When I reached your lair, the door was frozen shut.
I could hear your footsteps on the other side.
I wanted to call to you, but would you still know
my language?  I hesitated, and watched as my own breath
froze before me in the air.

***

Dawn Barber: Footsteps

The dragons feet are pounding on the ground
They are strong and bold
Some are young some are old
Walking without a care
Blowing out fire everywhere
The ground is getting hotter
So the dragons must fly to another place
So they can walk around in a cooler place
Until the next lot of fire is blown out.

This is not the Endo: Dragon Wings

Of all the things love can bring
I least expected dragon wings.

***

Dan Horrigan: Dragon Living

The dragons wings kept us on the road
From one such haven to another
The beat of the journey
We drove in his shadow
Our car him high in the sky
Another roll of the dice
This is dragon living
Mythical
No, real my love
Be here warm under my wing.

***

Julie Newman: Dragons footsteps

We played on the beach, Dragon and I.
Taking it in turn to be Grandma. Standing still
Looking at the sea, back to the beach.
I crept silently, I thought. Step by very slow step.

No sound was made as my foot moved in the sand.
Muscles tense, as I paused. Watching to see
If Dragon will turn. Not a ripple on that glorious
Scaly back. Not a flutter of the wings.

Slowly, slowly I progressed. Fraction of an inch
By fraction of an inch. No sound other than the
Waves breaking gently on the shore. They,
Like me crept closer to Dragon, who never moved.

Then suddenly, with no warning, Dragon turned!
I was stunned as I sat down quickly on the sand.
Dragon laughed at my surprise. We both sat there,
Happy in our game. It was my turn to be Grandma.

As I walked towards the sea, I stepped in Dragon’s
Footprints. Dragon’s feet are so much bigger than
Mine, with dips where the claws went down. But just
For a moment I was walking in Dragon’s footsteps.

***

All poems © the Poets 2024.