​The Victorious Dragon (I), by Mark Hendrickson

The Victorious Dragon, by Frantisek Kupka (Czech Republic) 1900

​The Victorious Dragon (I)
  
And kneeling upon the ground
I heard a voice like thunder
and the voice said unto me,
Come and see. 
 
And lo! I beheld a Dragon 
flying low above me.
And the wing of the Dragon 
was a shroud, and the shroud 
was the Holy Church of God.
 
About the hem of the shroud 
were eyes, and the eyes 
were the skulls of the fallen:
and this is the death of those
at the hands of the Church.
 
And at this I covered my eyes
for fear and shame took me:
but a voice commanded me,
Look. 
 
And I saw the shadow
of the wing of the Dragon
sweep over the earth:
and faith died, and hope died,
for the name of the Dragon was Judgement.

Mark Hendrickson

Mark Hendrickson is a gay poet and former psychiatric nurse living in the Des Moines area. A 2024 Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee, his work appears in The Ekphrastic Review, Variant Lit, Vestal Review, and others. Follow him @MarkHPoetry or visit  www.markhendricksonpoetry.com