Poem by Virginia Lowe

This fear of dragons

 for Ursula Le Guin

by Virginia Lowe

Once upon a time

in a land far far away

there lived a race of people

who were terrified of dragons -

dainty little elves as well -

of rabbit holes, faraway trees,

Narnia, Earthsea

any sort of magic really

fairy tales and fables,

myths and legends

even Bible stories

‘No time!’ they said

‘we’ve got to make money

play golf or the Casino

surf ocean or internet

Then make more money!’

Too afraid to stop for dragons

witches or fairies

talking animals or hobbits

all fantasy scared them witless

No time, no mental space

Possessions and money matters –

harsh realists all

That race exists no more

Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings

Game of Thrones, Star Wars

visual fantasy

has put paid to it

And readers return

as they always have

Always Coming Home

to books, to fantasy

to Hainish planets

to mind experiments

to empathy

to be Dispossessed

Note by Virginia Lowe: Le Guin’s 1974 article ‘Why are American’s afraid of Dragons?’ was very influential when I first started teaching children’s literature at university. It is available at: https://www.google.com.au/search?q=ursula+le+guin+the+fear+of+dragons&oq=this+fear+of+dragons&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j0l2.11999j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie