The round top
of fire caught,
dragon long gone,
is a reminder

of what the dragon guarded:
god’s treasure,
apple tree in the garden,
and man’s treasure,
all the gold in the world
in one apple.

The ore
forms an apple
buried in the strata
of the garden.

Not an opal
but a red glass apple
at the throat
holds the dragon’s
last breath, blue
or purple, poured

as metal in glass
when both were liquid.
It forms
on the woman’s hand,

at her neck
so the man can
remember,
so the woman can
feel breath in the prints
of her fingers.