The Dragon Watchers [Poetry]

In 1986 we hooked arms and you put your head on my shoulder
The cold bricks of my parent's house
Protected us from the frightened world.
Above, Halley's comet drew it's celestial path
We watched it's flaming passage and thought about 2061
I was fourteen years old
And in love with you.

In 1986, on the other side of the world
Firefighters died extinguishing Chernobyl
The watchers on the bridge would die from a shower of radioactive dust
Whilst we giggled about boys we liked
and whether unicorns existed.

In 1986, school children watched a space shuttle
Disintegrate into a million pieces
The Soviet Union launched the Mir space station
Parents watched children suffer mad cow disease
And David Bowie was the Goblin King

In 1986, we stared into the starry skies
And watched a dragon fly across the moon
To this day I swear it was true - I'd recognize that silhouette anywhere
Black wings beat in time with our hearts
I thought that in 2061 we'll be dead
We leaned in- looked at each other, breathed:
Did you see that? I nodded, and couldn't speak.
I was so in love with you.

This is a true story. In 1986 I did watch a dragon fly across the moon whilst my girlfriend and I watched for Halley's comet, which makes an appearance only once every 75 years, meaning if we see it twice we'd be lucky. 1986 was also the year of the Chernobyl disaster and the spaceship Challenger exploding - horrific events to witness on television, even when you are 14 and you don't quite realise the terrible things that happen in the world.

I wrote this in response to a dragon challenge on Whaleshares, so it was first published there.

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