Dragons

​Dragons marched across the sky
Some were long with curving spiked tails
Others were small with web-like wings
They shifted their shapes to accommodate the wind that pushed them
But they remained dragons
 
In the early hours while the sun still slept, the dragons attacked
They swung their massive heads, spewing lightning
Long horizontal strikes ran just above the hills
Vertical strikes turned into long legged fire striders
Lighting fires with each step
 
I asked the wind to blow them away
I asked the cooling ocean fog to come rolling over the hills
I asked rain clouds to soak the flames
I asked the earth to smother them
But no answer came
 
Fire spread on gusts of wind
The rain that ran with the storm was fierce
But there wasn’t enough to slow the fires
That fed on grasses, and shrubs, and shot straight up the trees
Then jumped and swirled to others
 
Warriors fought the flames fiercely
But there were too few of them to make a difference
The fires grew
They consumed homes and buildings
And laughed as people fled in their wake
 
The fires created their own wind
To whip their sparks across the land
Nothing could stop them
Warriors tried
But the fires grew
 
Then the dragons came again