postpostochlophobist

Tell Us


We have had names for you:
The Thunderer, the Almighty
Hunter, Lord of the snowflake
and the sabre-toothed tiger.
One name we have held back 
unable to reconcile it
with the mosquito, the tidal-wave,
the black hole into which
time will fall.  You have answered
us with the image of yourself
on a hewn tree, suffering
injustice, pardoning it;
pointing as though in either
direction; horrifying us
with the possibility of dislocation.
Ah, love, with your arms out
wide, tell us how much more
they must still be stretched
to embrace a universe drawing 
away from us at the speed of light.


- R.S. Thomas, Collected Poems 1988-2000.