Lion


Aslan means lion in Turkish. 
I feel betrayed.  
C.S Lewis, how could you cheat so?  
I wanted Narnia to be real. 

I wanted it to exist outside,
outside of the words of my world
and their overly complicated 
webs of connotation. 

I know fairy tales are a product of Earth, 
of time, 
of language. 
But C.S Lewis, 
you could have woven a stronger veil.
It wasn’t Samhain, was it, 
when Aslan sacrificed himself?
  
As a friend of Tolkien, 
I expect you got the reference. 

Tolkien, at least, named a world 
in his own language.
Sure it was influenced by Finnish, Welsh… 
and maybe something he picked up 
on Samhain, 
But it was encoded, 
a challenge to decipher.    

Aslan, The Lion. 
I suppose God transcends the pagan Veil,
Would it be alright if we called Aslan Allah instead? 

 

Yellow Sweater

WA

YWP Alumni Advisor

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