#654

Butchers

(in memoriam D.T.)

During the day
the town talks for itself
but at night it needs a voice
to cut open the darkness
and let the truth pour out:
which is why but few are poets
when all eat meat!


21 July 1989
  
 

The D.T. is Dylan Thomas. To be honest I know very little about him other than what I’ve picked up from documentaries and dramatisations. He always struck me as a guy who was working his way towards legendom. Of course it’s hard to become a legend without also becoming a bit of a caricature. At the time I wrote this I’d probably seen the film adaptation of Under Milk Wood once and I don’t recall enjoying it that much. I knew 'Do not go gentle into that good night' and ‘A Grief Ago’ but that was about it. So it’s odd I suppose that I’d associate this little poem with Thomas.

I’ve always liked the expression “under cover of darkness”; very poetic. Like most of us I’ve done my fair share under cover of darkness. Imagine if we all knew what was going on, how disillusioned we would be.