Great Dragon of the East.

Musical scales atop this treasure
vast, the subway rolls
life blood in my veins,

the steam of survival bellows up
and out of my lungs – what am I 
but a sentient and fine tuned machine?

This leather heart pulsing a rhythm with

the creatures that dwell upon my skin

the creatures in my eyelashes, symbiotic 
they are nothing without me
and I would die without them.

Whether the world is waking
or sleeping I am steady, resting always
with one eye open, ready to rise

for the right occasion.