Once I was viewed as an image of nobility and power itself

The king of the sky and the king of the jungle brought together into something far deadlier

Strong enough to rule the skies and deadly enough to stalk the beasts of the ground

Kings and armies emblazoned my image on their shield and castles for safe keeping

In a world where imagination and magic still existed

And children dreamed of magical beasts that prowled the dark places

Heroes and wizards came to seek my aid in their impossible quests

In a time before the modern world cast its own spell of certainty

And the wilderness of dreamland became tamed by roads of asphalt and concrete

And the dictatorial iconoclasts of plutocracy stripped the artistic from the halls of the world

When the gryphons, dragons and unicorns went the way of the dinosaur

Once I was the master of the earth and sky in another world, in another place and time

Now I don’t belong in the heavens or on the earth

For neither the eagles or the lions would have me

To them I am neither beast nor bird and my presence makes a mockery of both

So what am I?

Am I merely some projection of some alchemist’s desire

Am I the joining of two creatures noble in their own right

Into an unstable and unholy creature banished to live between worlds

On the edge of imagination in the whispers of dreams not yet quashed by the mechanistic drive of progress

Will there come a time when the magic returns and heroes come back to the world

When gryphons and dragons and unicorns can again dwell in the dreams of young and old

Or will they too be thrown into the furnaces of the disillusioned dreams and broken hearts

Of children grown too soon and adults who no longer sing songs

Composed Neil White, 2013