The Dragon in the Room

Love is like a dragon in the room; it can lay there sleeping for what seems like a hundred years then suddenly wake and terrify or seduce. It is powerful and swift, slow and cumbersome. A dragon destroys or protects, just like love.

In her collection of poetry, The Dragon in the Room, author J. K. E. Rose chronicles her thoughts about love. People fear its power. They creep around, not wanting to rouse it—but are even more scared of leaving it behind. People want love but are afraid of it, so they try not to wake the sleeping dragon. They don’t know what to say, what words will stop a dragon or a love gone bad, or how to ask for the love they are terrified of wanting. People pretend too much because honesty requires the right words.

The verses of The Dragon in the Room describe the dragons J. K. E. Rose has lived with, the dragon that lives within her. They explore love for partner, children, family, and self; words spoken and unspoken; words to keep the dragon and keep love; and words to let them both go.