Mirabella

Mirabella rides her dragon
And no-one in the world can stop her
For she is young, and innocent, and free
But everyone tries to bring her down
Wherever she goes, they try to stop her
For she is young, and innocent, and free.

When the storm-god saw her frolic naked
In a driving rainstorm, splashing, running
And riding in and out of storm clouds,
Smoke thick clouds, heavy with rain
Glowing with lightning, ready to strike
But holding back, unwilling to strike
Afraid to mar her innocence
And quiet her laughter, which rang like a bell:
When the storm-god saw her thus
Without shame, he became enraged,
And called forth still darker clouds,
Smoke thick clouds, heavy with rain
Glowing with lightning, ready to strike,
And darker clouds even still
That blotted out the midday sun
Set darkness upon every corner of the land
And roared with thunder that shook the trees

Then, even Mirabella was afraid
She ran and hid beneath her dragon
Cold and wet and afraid and alone
And the rain fell harder, the water ran
In streams that gathered together into rivers
And rivers that overflowed their banks
As the water rose, Mirabella drew
Closer to her dragon, afraid
Of the lightning, the thunder, the wet and cold
But there she found she could not reach
Her dragon's back, she could not flee
The storm and flood, she could not hide
For long; she’d have to fly away
She'd have to brave the storm to climb
Onto his back, she'd have to fly away

And as the water rose around her
Shivering in the dark, unable to escape
She saw as in a dream, herself
Dead, floating in the water, forgotten
Just one of a number mentioned in passing
By one of a number of bearers of bad news

She called out to her mother and father
But they were far from the flood, and safe
She called out to Guan-yin
Goddess of mercy, who might save her
But Guan-yin was far from the flood
Waiting to be reborn to the world
She called out to no-one at all
And hid from the storm, and cried, and shook

And as the water rose around her
Shivering in the dark, unable to escape
She saw as in a dream, herself
Dead, floating in the water, forgotten
Just one of a number mentioned in passing
By one of a number of bearers of bad news

There was none who could help her, save her from drowning
None but her dragon, who she hid beneath
Afraid of the thunder, afraid of the storm-god
Unable to brave the storm for a moment.
She wondered if her last words would be
What a foolish way to die.

And as the water rose around her
Shivering in the dark, unable to escape
She saw as in a dream, herself
Dead, floating in the water, forgotten
Just one of a number mentioned in passing
By one of a number of bearers of bad news

To climb upon the dragon's back
She knew would be her only escape
So she stuck out her head to try to climb
And a flash of lightning struck a tree,
And set it ablaze, burned it to the ground,
The storm-god gloating, showing his power.
She grasped the dragon's golden scales,
She climbed through the rain that fell like knives,
And her dragon rose on iridescent wings.

Warmed by the sun, finally free
Of the rain and storm, and the fear she felt,
Mirabella laughed out loud
Far away, the storm-god cursed her
With a curse that none should ever pronounce
An impotent curse that did nothing to her.

Mirabella rides her dragon
And no-one in the world can stop her
For she is young, and innocent, and free
But everyone tries to bring her down
Wherever she goes, they try to stop her
For she is young, and innocent, and free.