Why Not?
By Gerri Leen
The warrior strides, his boots clicking
Outside his dragon bellows, tired of waiting
While her kin take to the sky
His sons look up, the youngest from books
The boy could drown in them
If given the chance
The eldest steals glances at a neighbor girl
Drowning in her from the
Look of him
Behind the warrior, a softer step
His daughter holds out
His gauntlets—"You forgot these"
She smiles as the dragon whines more loudly
"The way she goes on..." A shake of braids
Punctuates her amusement
Of all his children
She understands the difference
Between draconian muttering and
The subtle creak of an "I told you so"
Her gaze at the door to the dragon ledge is longing
Her voice wistful: "It's a beautiful day to fly"
She's correct
"There's spinning to do," his wife says
Her chiding's full of love but also expectations
That knot around his daughter like a noose
He remembers watching the dragons from
The family farm
"There's crops to be tended to," his father would say
But all he wanted was to fly
Soar and skim the ground, hooting
Like his brothers
On the rope swing over the pond
Free, so free
"She can hold two" he says
The dragon can hold the whole family
If it comes to that
But the warrior escapes alone, glad for the refuge
Until now
His oldest looks up, as if he's been invited
His youngest stays caught in words
But his daughter lowers her head and nods
Looking to where the washing waits
He tips her chin up—"I meant you"
His eldest makes a sound of disbelief
"Her?" he says when the sound
Gets him nowhere
Has the warrior raised him
To view women this way?
"Yes, her"
His wife raises an eyebrow and shakes her head
But doesn't argue
Maybe the warrior is fairer than he realized
She pulls their eldest by the ear
"I'll find you something to do"
A moment of derision
Then the realization: she's not joking
The boy's shock is palpable
"Come" the warrior says to his daughter
"But girls don't fly"
It's true but suddenly he doesn't care
"Why not?"
(For my father, 1916-2015)