Resistance and Resilience: Dragon Princess

June 19, 2025

This current blog continues to explore the themes of resistance and resilience in the arts, especially in the context of the current upheavals across the globe and in the USA. Recent contributions may be found at https://spirit-reflections.org/blog/ under “Writings.”

This poem is a response to E. Reid’s poem from May 27 which begins, “I stand for love.” The poem is based on an actual encounter I had when I was purchasing birthday cards. I was struck by the resilience of both the daughter (willing to adapt her dreams and yet still be her unique self) and her single mother (determined to celebrate her daughter and adapt to her change of mind out of love). My prompts for those who might like to paint/write/compose/photograph a response are how are we practicing resilience in the whitewater changes of these current times and where are we practicing love as an act of resistance or resilience?

At the Dollar General

I stand up for the little girl
standing on tiptoes
planning her fourth birthday
the daddy-less little girl
who wants to be
a dragon
who wants green dragon cake
and fiery red balloons.
I stand up for her mama
single
who stands all day long
at Dollar General
who tells me this story
how she searched and saved for
anything dragon
rejoicing at dragon slippers
dragon tail.
I stand up for the little girl
standing on tiptoes
who changes her mind
wants to be a princess instead
and for her mama
who stands telling me
her story
who spent what she had
on dragons and red balloons
who works overtime
and dresses her daughter
standing on tiptoes
in dragon slippers
dragon tail
pink tutu
gold crown
gifting her dragon-princess
with a glittery wand
to command her subjects
standing up for her daughter
embracing all they are meant to be
who stands, laughing,
as she tells her story.

(c) Rosemary McMahan

Standing with you,

Rosemary

Photo: Pixabay