• Home
  • About
  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
    • All Back Issues
    • Inaugural Issue (November 2023)
    • A Christmas Collection (Dec. 25, 2023)
    • Reprints (December 2023)
    • New Series Issue 1 (Winter, 2024)
    • New Series Issue 2 (Spring, 2024)
    • New Series Issue 3 (Summer, 2024)
    • New Series Issue 4 (Fall, 2024)
    • New Series Issue 5 (Winter, 2025)
    • New Series Issue 6 (Spring, 2025)
    • New Series Issue 7 (Summer, 2025)
    • New Series Issue 8 (Fall, 2025)
    • New Series Issue 9 (Winter, 2026)
  • Information Pages
    • Archive
    • Index
    • Authors
    • Books
    • Resources
    • Communities
    • Historical Texts
    • The Modern Alliterative Revival
  • Samplers
    • Styles and Themes
    • Noted Authors
    • Modern Life
    • Scenes, Settings, and Objects
    • Poems of Love, Devotion, Passion & Grief
    • The Audio-Video Tour
    • Epic and Narrative Poems
    • Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction
    • Alliterative Verse in Arda
    • The Anglo-Saxon and Viking World
    • The High Medieval World
    • Arthurian Legend
    • The Classical, Alliterative
    • The Biblical, Alliterative
    • Humor (Light Verse)
    • The Riddle Tour
  • Reviews
  • Contact
  • Call for Submissions

Forgotten Ground Regained

Lay of the Staffordshire Hoard Dragon

Martin Vine
When freshly hatched, I found a hoard.To guard my gold, I grew its size,alert in lair ‧ laid around it.But my hoard could be ‧ held in a handbag,so I’m the shape ‧ and size of a cat --not fierce fire-drake, more fire-duckling.
But treasured treasure ‧ was taken from me -- so pillage I plan, plotting revenge,seek out my stash ‧ throughout Staffordshire.A fearless foe ‧ I fly aboveThe A38, anger in heart.Mercians must ‧ be made to pay!I’ll spit, slightly ‧ singe their fingers --give a shallow scratch ‧ from my short claws.My teeth will tear ‧ at trouser-bottoms;in Lichfield gardens, grass lawns I’ll scorch.
If all that fails, don’t think it funny --much like Grendel, I’ve got a mummy.
Photograph by Ola Myrin
This poem was originally publilshed in Withowinde 157, p. 11, Spring, 2011
Copyright © Martin Vine, 2011
No part of this site may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of training artificial intelligence technologies or systems
Join email discussion list

We use cookies to enable essential functionality on our website and analyze website traffic. For more information, read our Cookies and Privacy Policy.

Your Cookie Settings

We use cookies to enable essential functionality on our website and analyze website traffic. For more information, read our our Cookies and Privacy Policy below.

Cookie Categories
Essential

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our websites.

Analytics

These cookies collect information that is used in aggregate and in an anonymized form to help us understand how our website is being used and how effectively our site is performing.