Fear

What does this dragon guard?
I found a proverb in my heart –
Who wrote it there I cherish still –
Which says that by the guard we ken
What price is in the treasure-hoard.
This dragon is a midnight beast
With pink-freaked clover for his eyes,
And very large. His belly heaves
Like hills arising out of seas
Before the Pliocene, and smoke
That magma meeting water breeds
Billows in thick dimensions from his mouth.

So, if my proverb prove a bark
Sufficient for a minor flood,
This dragon guards a mighty heap.
Maybe he swallowed ancient pearls,
Or diamonds in whose lithic minds
Swim beauties from a higher clime,
And for to win them I but need
To reach my hand straight down his throat
And grip the sinking lesion of his heart.