The Dragon's Heart

Coming home grounds me, takes me back to simpler times,

When answers were easy and the only decisions to make were what to wear and when to eat.

Nothing is simple now.

Not my wandering mind, nor a heart that longs to find peace in the midst of daily storms.

The road ahead is paved with trouble of my own creation, a world of my own choice.

Yet I embrace this dragon, this beast that seemed like a good idea;

A time when taming dragons demonstrated noble pursuits and even nobler people.

But the dragon has grown and it needs more and more to sustain itself.

I am in awe of its beauty, even as I sense its ability to burn me up with one casual breath.

I want to grow close to this beast, to understand it and match the heat of its intensity.

But it is not my friend. It tolerates me and expects me to give it more than I am willing to concede.

I cannot release it. It is too much a part of me to grant it freedom now.

So I move forward with resolve; fearful of what I have become.

Embracing this changling, this dragon-like beast that only a few years ago

Cowered in fear at the unknown world that I was creating.

As I accept the task at hand, I know a piece of me may be destroyed in the process.

A new creation will emerge, one that resembles the old in strange and familiar ways.

A steadfast creature, standing firm in my resolve to defeat the person inside,

Even as I realize that indelible part of me was never meant to die.

Victory is elusive, yet it calls to me like a siren song.

Like the call of a beast longing for its familiar home.

Even when the victory is won, the battle inside will rage on,

Till the dual heart we share beats no more.