Published in the 'Dylan Thomas' special edition of Purple Patch 1994

Being half-Welsh myself and a lover of words (often for words' own sake) I suppose I should be a bigger fan of Dylan Thomas than I actually find myself to be. But, thinking about it, I somehow suspect that DT is a quietly simmering influence on many creative writers. Death shall have no dominion. Bible black night. I have not returned to my old poetry books to check, but I recall his words having a force beyond their intrinsic strength because DT, by simply wielding them, filled the words with his power-house of a soul. Gerald Manley Hopkins is another example of a poet who scratches away behind my mind's skirting-board. I admit that I don't remember enough about DT to warrant me writing anything abut him at all.  But I am pretentious enough to pretend. And, oh yes, Richard Burton haunts me, too. RB's performance in the radio version of Under Milk Wood (which I have on tape) provides the tandoori Welsh lilt to marinate those special vowels, to crisp the consonants in perfect articulation, to undermine with echoes. Then, I think of another hero of mine, Bob Dylan. Didn't he take his surname from DT? BD's voice scraped words off the wall. Yes, so many versions: the DTs that are still making our archetypes shudder without shaking.