LEGEND

LEGEND, by Colleen Anderson:

Decrepit rust, creaking scales
weigh heavily on ancient bones.
Burdens scar where past dreams shone.

Cries beneath corroding teeth.

Clanking nails on frozen mounds,
unfurled wings now molder closed.
Fancy flights ended long ago.

Weary sighs in cataract eyes.

Wispy smoke, old brimstone breath,
memories of golden flames, gone —
defiant roars once shattered stone.

Unending days, memories haze.

Godly might, now legend’s base,
forests lie empty and at ease —
the last is given eternal sleep.

Once renowned, now forgotten.
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Colleen Anderson’s fiction and poetry have appeared in over 100 publications, with newer works out in Candle in the Attic Window, Mirror Shards anthology and Eternal Haunted Summer. She was a 2011 Aurora Award nominee in poetry and was shortlisted for this year’s Friends of Merril short fiction contest http://friendsmerrilcontest.com/. Between writing about other places and times, she is a poetry and manuscript editor with Chizine Publications. New work will be coming out in Bull Spec and Chilling Tales 2. Colleen’s book of poetry Ancient Tales, Grand Deaths and Past Lives is available through Kelp Queen Press http://kelpqueenpress.com/catalog.html. Follow Colleen’s blog at www.colleenanderson.wordpress.com.