Poetry Suite

Sathyani Kotakadeniya

Here Be Dragons

Are ferocious dragons a fantasy or phantasmagoria, 

based on assumption or perhaps ephialtes?

There are so many stories about you 

But the truth about you remained a mystery for centuries 

Claws that cut through glass they say 

Soul piercing emerald eyes 

Fire breath that will scorch you to a corpse 

And will send your ashes flying through the sky 

So, like a true coddiwomple one night 

I packed up to scour the kingdom

In search of the fire breathing dragon 

To descry the creature people feared 

I did seek out the dragon months later 

But she didn’t resemble the monster 

the village folk described

She doesn’t scorch anyone to death

Or eat people alive 

She has beautiful golden wings

With gems crested on the ends 

And eyes that cradle so much wisdom

And have glistening leather skin

If no man had ever ventured to find her

Why were there so many stories about a beast?

People fear the unknown I realised 

And will believe just about anything.

 

 

Seasons 

She felt a heart wrenching predicament 

Fearfully shoved it out the window 

But it wafted through the amber meadow

Falling leaves; a cusp of a shadow.

 

Wintry times came aghast 

Crispy in its spine-chilling weather 

Freezing to preserve her heart

Till she found the strength to start.

 

Yet all endings turn to new beginnings

With that sprung spring to life

Bringing a branch of hope

A stem to a new scythe.

 

The sun beamed in high spirit 

Sponging away at the spring-wrung blues

Adding radiance a newfound warmth 

To a canvas of vibrant hues.

 

Sunset 

As the evening sprawls lazily
The ball of fire steeps
Like a tea bag dipped in boiling water
Brewing an assortment of pastel;
A tinge of peach and gold
Among swirls and streaks of yellow.
Clouds like cotton candy;
Pink, purple mellow.
The sky a canvas of colour
Without a stroke of blue pallor
Leaving an aura of love to simmer. 
As the sun disappears behind the ocean
Beckoning dusk, dimming the bright 
I watch as dusk after sunset melts
Into the navy blue twilight.

 

Ardour 

Don’t be fooled by a fire blaze
Its drawing, ardent flames
The dancing ember 
The mesmerising haze 
Don’t get too close
Or you’ll go up in flames. 

 

Down the Rabbit Hole

The universe carries secrets
Much of it is still unknown
So, into the unknown, you go 
Through the porthole of a rabbit hole.
Did you fall flat in a different dimension? 
Does it make you feel euphoric or petrified? 
Was this what you hoped for when you started?
Do you remember your way back home?
Maybe you are not as lost as Alice 
But maybe you are as mad as the Hatter 
Otherwise, you would not be here still 
Looking at the Cheshire Cat for answers.

Sathyani Kotakadeniya is a law and psychology dual degree student from QUT. She is an avid reader and writer. She is a frequent contributor to Glass magazine, and was the winner of the September 2020 Australian micro-fiction competition ‘Write from The Heart’.