R S Thomas and Mildred Eldridge at Tallarn Vicarage 1940
That Day
Stopped the car, asked a man the way
To some place; he rested on it
Smiling, an impression of charm
As of ripe fields; talking to us
He held a reflection of the sky
In his brushed eyes. We lost interest
In the way, seeing him old
And content, feeling the sun's warmth
In his voice, watching the swallows
Above him — thirty years back
To this summer. Knowing him gone,
We wander the same flower-bordered road,
Seeing the harvest ripped from the land,
Deafened by the planes' orchestra;
Unable to direct the lost travellers
Or convince them this is a good place to be.
___________________
R.S. Thomas
H'm
Macmillan London, 1972
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/r-s-thomas
