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By Emmanuel Williams

 You see, I was born in 1988.

Which to the Chinese and the Japanese means that I am a Dragon.

A natural leader, the luckiest of their zodiacs, every animal of their zodiacs combined in one…

In the Western lore, the dragon is a malignant character, only meant to be slain so the treasure can be obtained.

Ladon, Smaug, the dragon is guarding something… maybe an opportunity for Herakles to become a god of Olympus, or simply the rightful fortress of the Dwarves of Middle Earth.

Clearly the Dragon is a Guardian.

Even in the original Chinese story of how the animals learned their place, came from the great race. Where the Dragon could have won, but slowed down to help the others across their obstacles. Guarding compassion, mercy – confident that the race is less important than keeping others able to reach their potential…

I am the Dragon.

I am a piece of the best of those born Dragons!

I have known other Dragons, born even in my year, with no will to lead, much less break the chains of the homelessness in which I found them. Among my own homelessness, however…

Yet I would not succumb.

I knew there was still gold to protect.

And when you know that, when your mind can see the gold of the past, present, and future….

And you have already committed to looking forward because you’re an American with his eyes on the holidays of every year. The foundation of everything to look forward to. And at a time like this, the 1st of October… With Halloween at the end, Thanksgiving a month past it, and Christmas just a month past even that…

You remember the treasure that is the Holidays…

My next tattoo will be on my skin by the time October ends. And it is…

A DRAGON.

It will join my first tattoo, a bold battarang in the shape of the bat symbol from the Dark Knight Trilogy.

Every tattoo is a commitment to me.

A COMMITMENT.

Well considered, un-lightly undertaken, and filled with symbolism I can use in any location or circumstance I find myself in, no matter what the needs on the ground…

I alone know the meaning, but neither symbol is lost upon the public. There is nowhere they do not know The Batman. There is nowhere they do not know The Dragon!

For myself, I can see the dragon in every cloud, in the Komodo, in the Dragonfly (and Damoselfly), in the films that contain dragons of honor, which must exclude How To Train Your Dragon, but must absolutely include The Hobbit Trilogy, the Harry Potter Film Series, Disney’s “Hercules”, HBO ( and George R.R. Martin)’s “Game of Thrones” or “A Song of Ice and Fire” where they guarded the Mother of Dragons and the most guard-worthy Queen in all of television history, Daenerys Targaryen and all of her kingdoms at her beck and call.

Oh how I’d live and die to be a guardian at the complete whim of the woman he protected.

I am still unmarried, but she should know, I am the protector type. For all she knows, this post is my confession that she shall never know a better guardian if she is the treasure…

But I honorably digress.

Should my country (not Trump) call upon this Dragon, he will guard the country.

Should my governor, Jared Polis (currently) call upon this Dragon, he will guard the governor himself!

Should even my mayor, Mike Johnston (Denver) call upon this Dragon, I will guard him with my life.

But my first loyalty is to my treasure! 

My family first, myself second, my girlfriend is third (should I retain another), but should I gain a wife, she will stand before all of this. For undoubtedly my family may disagree with her manner and disposition.

Nevertheless.

Dragon. Means. Guardian.

And I. Mean. Business.

More than business, I mean commitment. Which is a concept that can be lost on too many a Knight.

Either they win or they lose and they believe that this is the end of their sword. They neglect their families, torture themselves with failure, and never enter the battle again.

Fuck that.

Religiously.

PROTECT YOUR GOLD, FRIENDS!!

FIND YOUR GOLD, YOU CHILDREN!! 

FOR ONCE WE WERE THIEVES, NOW THIEVES ARE THE ENEMY!

FOR ONCE WE TOOK, NOW WE PROTECT!

FOR AT LEAST I CAN BE EVERY ANIMAL OF THE ZODIACS (including the Taurus, which makes me DRACO/TAURI by constellation, and a Taurean Dragon, both Earth signs by astrological chart, month + year).

But you may not believe in Astrology. I just might. Not in horoscopes or every personality description tied to my signs, but I do believe in personal experience and how it can trump religion, science, and yes, pop psychology.

Except… I believe in the DRAGON! It is my curse, it is “my terrible privilege” as Tony Stark spoke of the mechanism in his chest and all it does for him in the first “Avengers” film. 

I believe that something is calling me between the Moon and the Earth and its inhabitants. I believe that I am meant for more than simplicity, the status quo, and the balance of forces. I believe that my imbalance is my strength. That the fact of constant chaos teeming beneath my medicine makes me better able to withstand the chaos of the enemies approaching my caves of gold.

I believe it is for me to define what the gold will be, or is in any given moment, metaphorical or physical. The treasure that compels me to keep it from harm or, mostly, from falling into the wrong hands.

This is key.

If the thugs could appreciate the gold, they wouldn’t sell it to others. If the “bitch” could maintain the gold, they would marry for love. If the poet understood the gold, he could communicate it. If the musician could hear the gold, she would share it. But if the lion should see the gold, they’d only kill it.

The dragon will guard it.

After that, it may be the dragon’s choice how to use all of the gold he has protected…

The dragon may be the richest beast in all of mythology, religion, and lore.

You and I would do well to respect his loot…

“You savvy?”

-Captain Jack Sparrow, “Pirates of the Carribean”