Martin Willitts Jr. - In a Dark Village / Dylan Thomas in the Dark

In a Dark Village

porch lights come on as we near —

a stranger into the strangeness, 

accepting us as we are — then 

we pass — and the houses feel 

like rejected lovers 

wondering why we did not choose them

and the village darkens like a heart, 

hiding pain, hoping 

the prodigal child had returned —

and it does not matter 

if we were born there or not —

what matters is the village cared

and its offer of forgiveness

was generous, its promise

was obtainable love, and

we had rejected it out of hand,

never taking the time for courtship

or camaraderie or penance —

sometimes, 

we don’t know what we’re missing

because we were not listening 

or open to change

or feel unworthy of such compassion —

if we are smart, we will head back. 

Dylan Thomas in the Dark

Under the ash tree, he smokes 

down to ash

letting stars out of his chest.

He is not from the neighborhood of known.

It is as if he was not ever there

among the row houses or the breeze.

I thought I saw him, 

his hair curly with ash leaves,

but it must have been my imagination.

Among silence and lack of wind,

the man I saw was never there,

but I feel his whistling in my bones. 

Martin Willitts Jr is the winner of 2014 International Dylan Thomas Poetry Award. He has over 20 chapbooks and 8 full length collections of poetry including forthcoming “How to Be Silent” (FutureCycle Press), and “God Is Not Amused With What You Are Doing In Her Name” (Aldrich Press).