Kimono Dragon

Kimono Dragon


We rolled on off the Chappy Ferry
  And kept on driving straight –away,
We made no turns in either way,
  But before we came to the Dike Bridge
We turned a left, drove up the ridge,
  And parked ourselves in the parking lot
Of that Far East island garden plot,
  A gardener’s playground called ‘Mytoi’

My love and I, both hand in hand,
  Strolled up its lush and several paths,
My thoughts rose high as clouds above,
  Which made her and I laugh,
While she ‘oo-ed at the late camellia blooms,
  I looked for love’s shade garden grove,
With a bench or stump or low stone wall
  Where we could sit, and make my move

We walked out from the shaded woods
  To the bright sunlight of glade and pond,
The waist of which was girded by a bridge,
  Beneath two Japanese Torii arch,
I saw on it, half across its mound,
  Our romantic spot at last was found!

We wandered up onto the span,
  She was my girl, I was her man,
She moved in close, I closed in too,
  About to kiss, we nose to nose,
When in the sunlit soup below
  Something primal - something scaly - swam up,
And at us two, it smiled!
  “What the fuck is that!”

She shrieked, I freaked, we pointed down below,
  At the monstrous thing paddled to and fro,
What is this beast? We did not know,
  It seemed Godzilla influenced, Japanese in origin,
The pond’s ‘Kimono Dragon’ was our stress relieving pun,
  As, after our initial shock,
He reminded us of a dog, who
  Wants his stick or tennis ball thrown,
While he happily adored us
  “Well, whatever it is, it’s friendly!”

After our walk, we asked the girl at the gate,
“That’s our Charlie! He’s a snapping turtle,
  I feed him heads of kale on my lunch break,
  He’s soooo friendly, and he’s vegan!”

Years since, when back on Chappy island,
  We return to Mytoi, bringing
Salad leaves to toss by hand
  To our old smiling turtle friend,
Yet if you stop on by with greens,
  Remember – do not hold out those leaves or linger,
Snapping turtles aren’t smart,
  And he could bite off your finger!