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% Dragon song
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% Reuben Thomas   1-15/9/95
%
% Typeset 29/5/99; used my poem package 21/12/00; made HeVeA-friendly
% 11/2/02; switched \lips to ellipsis 29/7/04; switched to UTF-8 with minor tweaks to the text 7th May 2018
%


\documentclass[english]{article}
\usepackage[utf8]{inputenc}
\usepackage{a4,babel,palatino}
\usepackage{poem}

\poemchunksize=50

\begin{document}
\begin{poem}
\title{Dragon song}
\stanza*
It was as if we were being told to expect wonders.\\
We arrived in the dead hours\\
And we were weary;\\
Two long hours on the bus,\\
Too long we banged and bumped and climbed, groaning,\\
And for what?\\
An empty yard, deserted buildings.\\

\stanza*
Yet there were omens:\\
Strange fires, still flames, in blackened circles\\
(We imagined the ripples),\\
And sound: a recording of a past prodigy.\\
But there was no pattern\\
And we had not seen the land.\\

\stanza*
Tired, we stumbled to bed.\\

\stanza*
We awakened slowly\\
To a leisurely breakfast,\\
Toast and eggs eaten drowsily in the sunshine.\\
We descended from our host's house…\\

\stanza*
And the land struck our sight!\\
Oh, the mountains!\\
Our host spoke, and the dragon encircled us.\\
A strange guardian of song and companion of singers,\\
It slept in the sun.\\

\stanza*
The day passed lightly.\\

\stanza*
Dark again, the time for song was upon us.\\
We sang; they sang,\\
But the dragon merely turned in its sleep,\\
Dreaming still the dragon dream of years,\\
The dream of land and sky\\
And of descent;\\
The cycle of continuity.\\

\stanza*
The boys of the dragon sang again,\\
And this time they sang the song of awakening,\\
The cry of the land's heart,\\

\stanza*
And the dragon awoke!\\

\stanza*
A roar filled the place,\\
An indescribable coruscation,\\
The long lament of life itself.\\
Hearts heard, wept, and were strengthened,\\
And the song was still.\\

\stanza*
It is quiet again;\\
Our brief sojourn will soon end,\\
But the echoes of the dragon's song\\
Have been scored into our souls.\\

\stanza*
How could we forget this ancient night?\\
\end{poem}
\begin{poem}
\author{Reuben Thomas}
\poemdate{1st September 1995 11:48 p.m. after the concert at the Drakensberg Boys' Choir School}
\poemdate{Revised 8th September 1995 after suggestions from Keith Perry}
\poemdate{Revised 15th September 1995}
\poemdate{Revised 7th May 2018}
\end{poem}
\end{document}
