The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower

by Dylan Thomas 

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower 
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees 
Is my destroyer.
The force that drives the water through the rocks 
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams 
Turns mine to wax.
The hand that whirls the water in the pool
Stirs the quicksand; that ropes the blowing wind
Hauls my shroud sail.
How time has ticked a heaven round the stars.

[Excerpts from The Poems of Dylan Thomas, published by New Directions, Copyright 1937. Thanks to the following photographers for making their work available through the Creative Commons license: JFXie; Sudipto Sarkar; KevPBur; Peter Stevens; and Mark Robinson.]