Brosno Dragon
Richard Stevenson
Brosno Dragon of Brosnya,
lake cryptid serpent/dino
of Lake Bosno, near Adreapol,
West Russia. Not a hydrogen sulfide
ride of bubbles from the bottom –
a seltzer smeltzer, but a monster
some say likes to turn over boats.
Folks look so much like people burritos
in their earnest green canoes, to me.
I’m a shy cryptid though. Don’t like
to show more than a snout full of teeth
or quivering, sea-spewing nostril or two.
Best the only witnesses get blurred photos
so my serpentine nature ain’t over-exposed.
Oh! Brosnya leaves a ghastly callin’ card –
undigested intestines and guts,
oogle boogle lumpish lumpen noodles
floating in ambergris-like greasy clumps
on the water. Not perfume or particularly
profit-smellin’ clots of whale puke, these.
A few planks that served as toothpicks –
Rope-like floss bunting innards maybe.
Not a well-mannered beast, ol’ Brosnya.
Not especially glad to see you
outside the dinner hour, either –
Not beyond leavin’ the odd brutish bouquet.
