Dragon's breath is gently steaming
as he lightly snores
A rider's hat and leathers
hang on pegs beside the door

The sun is slowly coming up
pink o'er blue rocky hills
Shadows are receding now
along with night-time chills

Windows open on the morning
Good smells upon the air
Hot breakfast-tea is drunk
Pilots braid their hair

Dragons polished in the sun
Scales washed and scoured bright
Saddles cinched and tightened
for first formation's flight

Her voice was electric-blue
the stage set for his mind
She saw that he was interested
for he smiled at her in kind

Low-down moan of the saxophone
the throbbing bass of beat
She turned up the temperature
and he basked in the sexual heat

Steamy notes of seduction
played for him to ride
They got on together
took the ferry at high tide

The music was hypnotic
her range was truly deep
He couldn't take his eyes from her
was led to slaughter like a sheep

I woke to find destruction within my room
Amongst the ash and smoke I found
All that remained of my Spirit Guide
Alone and unprotected
I’d nowhere to hide

No ring of protection
Nor a halo of light
No shield from the evil
No sanctuary, nor safe haven
Towards the darkness I drifted

A mask that's kept in the bathroom
is the one she wears tonight
A furious battle for your affection
the war on age is one she fights

Her ammunition is in lipstick tubes
spray-cans of scents and colors
Camouflage for worry lines
scars she's earned as a mother

Secret-agents and spies, I'm told
behind the lines of truth
keep her on her fresh painted toes
securing formulas for her youth

Yesterday never existed; it was only Now at the time
Tomorrow will never come as Now has already arrived
We only live in the moment; everything else is gone
No point in waiting; because Now won’t wait too long

Don’t look back at the things you can’t retrieve
Your memories can only be played in the Now
Nothing happens tomorrow as it will never come
Absorb yourself in Now; because once it’s done it’s done

I understand the nightmares
Broken voices of my inner being
Half-whispered dreams of salvation
Only part of the truth that's seen

Wishing cannot make it right
And crying won't do at all
I thrash my bed, the peace of night
Punch holes in the built up wall

You don't outlive your memories
They just change to suit your style
They hang on hooks within your head
Shapeless in too long a while

He left his drink, ice melting
whiskey on the rocks
Strode down the dim lit alley
out to the city blocks

Maybe it's a little nothing
just a phantom voice
but then a scream of horror
now, he had no choice

He turned the corner running
saw the victim on the ground
Three drunken men were circling
"Hey look at what we found"

"A dirty little whore, she is
Come and get some free"
He said; "No, and you ain't either
Who says? I guess that's me"

There’s a dying man
Next to my bed
And when the wind whistles
I remember what he said
Envelopes he gave to me
I stitch together the letters
Trying to find a family
A noose hangs from the shower head
And when water runs cold
I remember that I’m not dead

And I don’t know what he was
His ashes settled at the bottom,
My ocean of memories.
I don’t know what this is,
I just forgive myself cause I was a kid
It didn’t take a long while
To find that I was a lonely child

Neopoet Random Challenge # 16 My Father (my Dad)
(32 lines)

My Father was just Dad, owned and operated
his own Sodding & Landscaping trade,
before that he rode the rodeo circuit
busting broncs, he wasn't afraid.

he married mother, had four children
one of them a son, who died at birth.
shaming him she sued for divorce,
false guilt made him doubt his worth

Hand full of peanuts
an ear for the blues
a glass of aged whiskey
and a mind full of you

Smooth riffs, toes keeping time
the memories clear
your sweet voice singing
low and sincere

Tinkling keys of piano
drawn notes of sweet Bess
my only friend, guitar
and she always says yes

No good women, always picking
fingers hold ivory picks
the bottle is a callin'
sip or two between the licks