The Dragon Who Became a Peacock

The Day I Danced in the Fire

The bearded dragon lived among humans,

guarded, hushed, and watched.

He wore his scales like armor

yet they whispered ‘bout his walk.

He stayed in pose, avoiding suspicion.

Kept his true colors beneath a thick smock.

“Blink slow. Speak timid. So your voice doesn’t shimmer.”

Yet their whispers kindled.

Their scrutiny went ablaze!

Accused

of being what he’d always known…

The pressure ignited

and instead of shrinking, the dragon strutted into the flames.

Better to burn with truth than let the spirit go dim.

As he walked through fire,

his old armor cracked.

One by one, his false selves melted,

oozing like wax.

As fate removed the veil,

he was unmasked. But seen.

That long held secret couldn’t hold water anymore.

His bright feathered tail spread in full color.

From the ashes, a new creation emerged.

Ascended.

Scandalous.

Still sacred.

In that holy flame, he started to twirl.

He danced where they expected disgrace.

The peacock didn’t seek praise.

He didn’t need their forgiveness.

Confidence airborne.

The Sky, his witness.

Finally, he was higher than fear.

Not confined by any image.

They called it sin, but heaven said he soared.

Fear had been relinquished.

His fire, never quenched.

And now, he burns bright in the sky.

He’s been himself ever since.

On Becoming My Brightest Self

“The bearded dragon lived among humans… guarded, hushed, and watched.”

In the summer of 2020, while the world was on lockdown, I sat alone with my own truth. I wasn’t reading a self help book. I didn’t join a support group. I didn’t even text anyone. I just sat in silence. Contemplating. And listening to the call of my heart.

I knew I was different. Queer AND Christian. This was not some new discovery. But those two realities were never allowed in the same room. Until that summer.

That was the first time I truly LET GO.

“Yet they whispered ‘bout his walk.

He stayed in pose, avoiding suspicion.”

Even isolated, I wanted to celebrate the truth that two realities could be one. So, I updated my Facebook cover photo to a Pride flag. I was terrified, anxious, and excited at the same time.

But I didn’t changed my cover photo to prove something. I updated it to honor me.

I was unfurling the feathers I’d spent years hiding, now finally ready to strut.

Of course, the whispers came. The quiet betrayals. The rescinded invites. The sideways glances from people who once called me brother in Christ. There were murmurs and messages exchanged behind closed doors. People talked. Formed prayer circles. And people I thought were in my corner chose silence or kicked me out of Bible study.

“The pressure ignited. And instead of shrinking, the dragon strutted into the flames.”

I waved my flag and felt like I was floating. Nah, I was flying!

Spiritually, emotionally, cosmically I had entered another layer of the atmosphere. This sacred, invisible ozone made for people who could finally stop hiding. I floated through clouds of shame.

To others, it may have looked like a fall from grace. Some would say I left the “straight and narrow” path. The same people who didn’t listen to understand or sat with me in difficult times. Yet my wings unfolded from my spine. From my vantage point, I was airborne. I was FREE.

“As he walked through fire,

his old armor cracked… That long held secret couldn’t hold water anymore.”

The shells were gone. The self-protection. The silence. That church-approved dimming of my light…

It all melted away.

And what shimmered underneath was flamboyant. There wasn’t a broken piece apart of me anymore. It was no infirmity…

I was fully me.

“His bright feathered tail spread in full color. From the ashes, a new creation emerged.”

The truth is I am many things. Christian. Queer. Creative. Emotional. Brave. Soft. Reserved. Playful. Powerful.

I am ten colors. Ten adventures. Ten voices. Like Ben 10, I shapeshift into ten divine super strengths. If you know, you know…

I don’t need to shrink into a fragile little dragon just to please others. Ha! I can dance in the fire. I can dance in the middle of anything. And I’m gonna do it every time.

“Confidence airborne. The Sky, his witness. Finally, he was higher than fear. Not confined by any image.”

This poem is about the person who walked through fire to find themselves. It’s about the person who had to shed something old just to breathe something true.

It’s a reminder that becoming isn’t about other people’s approval. It’s about moving forward into the fullness of who you are. With all your FEATHERS, all your FIRE, and all your FABULOUS.

The next time you’re told that your color is too much… whenever you’re pushed to hide your brightness… or held back from dancing, this is your invitation to twirl in the holy flame…

Spin. Float. And soar into becoming.