There was once a man in China who liked pictures of dragons. His clothing and his furniture were therefore accordingly adorned with dragons. This deep affection for their kind was brought to the attention of the Dragon Lord, who one day sent a real dragon to stand outside the man's window. It is said that he probably died of fright. Yamamoto Tsunetomo

Adamantine keratine

Grips the windowsill of the mind.

Silver talons in our collective unconsciousness.

Unappealing grubby schoolmate hands

Are eclipsed by crystalline scales

And perfect moon-arc claws

The flying madness

Which is a distant, impossible dragon.

In possibilities

Sleek 3-d muzzles rise from knit or crayoned ones.

Fright, that mammal response, titillates

The living senses.