I wrote this poem in honor of my dear friend, the children’s poet Jack Prelutsky, who turned 84 in recently. Jack was born in 1940, which, according to Chinese astrology, was the Year of the Dragon. Interestingly, his 84th birthday also falls during the Year of the Dragon. You see, in Western astrology, there are twelve zodiac symbols, one each month. In Chinese astrology, however, there are still twelve zodiac symbols, but they celebrate one per year, so each zodiac symbol repeats every twelfth year. 84 is 12 times 7, so there have been seven dragon years since the year Jack was born.

While for people, 84 years is generally considered pretty old, I wanted to draw a playful parallel between Jack’s birth year and the idea that, for a dragon, 84 is still quite young. This poem celebrates that connection and the idea that Jack, like a dragon, is still full of life and energy.

If you would like to read some of Jack’s poems, you can find them on his website at jackprelutsky.com.

Dragon’s Birthday

Today is Dragon’s birthday

The birthday cards are scribbled

The birthday toasts are proffered

— Kenn Nesbitt