Once a sentinel for a wedding gift—
Ladon the Dragon
wrapped himself
around the trees
in the Garden of the Hespérides
he swished his hundred heads
a hundred voices roared
a hundred warnings threatened
he guarded golden apples
His blood,
lacquer red
against Hercules’ death sword,
dripped into the soil
liberating dragon trees
with stiff dense leaves
crowning thick trunks
As glitter thrown to the sky
Ladon the Dragon
became the stars of Draco
encircling the North Pole
watching the garden—
where a bruised Dragon Tree
dripping red sap
mummifies the Guanche’s dead
or becomes furniture polish.