“The force that drives the green fuse” by Dylan Thomas
The force that drives the green fuse
drives my green age
that blasts the roots of trees
is my
destroyer
and I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
my youth is bent by the same wintry fever
the force that drives the water through the rocks
dries my red blood that dries the mouthing streams
turns mine to
wax
and I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
how at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks
the hand that whirls the water in the pool
stirs the quicksand that ropes the blowing wind
hauls my shroud
sail
and I am dumb to tell the hanging man
how of my clay is made the hangman’s lime
the lips of time leech to the fountain head
love drips and gathers, but the fallen blood
shall calm her
sores
and I am dumb to tell a weather’s wind
how time has ticked a heaven round the stars
and I am dumb to tell a weather’s wind
to tell the lover’s tomb
how at my sheet goes
the same crooked worm
