The Dirigible Balloon
Poetry for Children

Dr. Rage Will See You Now

Dr Rage looks like an old-time
god of myth
one of the ones whose moods
are still responsible
for our weather.

I did not come here for his imposing
beard and lightning
eyes in fact he scares me so much that I try
to avoid looking at him at all when
he towers over me with his devilish tools.

The reason I agree to come here two times
a year is that I am in love
with the small fluffy toy poodle that sleeps
on the receptionist’s desk and wakes to
wag his tail when I buzz in.

As long as he is there
to greet me every time
I will never consider
finding a less terrifying
dentist.

About the Writer


Laura Theis

Laura's work appears in Poetry, Oxford Poetry, Northern Gravy, The Caterpillar, Magma, Rattle, Tyger Tyger, Aesthetica, iamb, etc. Her Elgin-Award-nominated debut how to extricate yourself (2020), an Oxford Poetry Library Book-of-the-Month, won the Brian Dempsey Memorial Prize. A Spotter’s Guide To Invisible Things (2023) received the Live Canon Collection Prize and the Society of Authors’ Arthur-Welton-Award. Other accolades include the Alpine Fellowship Writing Prize, Poets & Players Prize, Oxford Brookes Poetry Prize, AM Heath Prize, and Mogford Prize. Her new collection Introduction to Cloud Care and her children's debut Poems from a Witch’s Pocket are both forthcoming in 2025.