Some people react physically to the magic of poetry, to the moments, that is, of authentic revelation, of the communication, the <i>sharing</i>, at i… - Dylan Thomas

A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him.

You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it technically tick, and say to yourself, when the works are laid out before you, the vowels, the consonants, the rhymes and rhythms, "Yes, this is it. This is why the poem moves me so. It is because of the craftsmanship." But you're back again where you began. You're back with the mystery of having been moved by words.

If I'd been a cowboy, it might've ended well.
Somewhere on the ramble, I'm sure I'd have to sell
My guns along the highway. My coins to the table
To make a gambler's double, I'd double debts to pay.
Prob'ly shrink and slink away, It mightn't've ended well.

What If I'd been a sailor? I think it might've ended well.
From August to May
For a searat of man drifting through eternal blue, aboard the finest Debris.
I might've called the shanties. From daybreak to storm's set, lines stay Taught, over rhythm unbroken.
But, oh, there's a schism unspoken, a mighty calling of the lee.
An absentminded Pirate, unaccustomed to the sea;
To the land, a traitor. I think it mightn't've ended well.

What might've worked for me? What might've ended well?
Soldier, to bloody sally forth through hell?
Teacher of glorious stories to tell?
Man of gold, or stores to sell?
Lover to a gentle belle?
Maybe a camel;
A seashell.
What mightn't've been a life where it mightn't've ended well?

أعلم أننا لسنا قديسون أو عذارى أو مخابيل؛ نحن ندري كل شهوة وكل نكتة من نكات المراحيض, ونعرف أكثرية الناس الوسخين؛ بإمكاننا أن نستقل الحافلات ونعد الفكة ونَعبر الطرق وننطق بجمل حقيقية. بيد أن براءتنا عميقة عمقاً لا حد له, وسرنا المشين هو أننا لا نفقه شيئاً على الإطلاق, أمَّا سرنا الباطني المروع فهو أننا لا نكترث لهذا الجهل