come. Release this rage of breath, bound by
flesh and walls, in and out and in and up onto
the crest of Idris where soiled clouds dip a curtain on
sheep cast up like shale pale pebbles by an angry god.
I wait.
I feel you coming. Down the lick slick ribbon road
thread through umber wind-burnt grass. In and out
and over unclothed Silurian folds, through pine green
shadow on the road from Machynlleth. Do not stop.
I wait where the bush oaks slide into mountain thighs
and spikescratch heather protects plundered pubes of
earth-warm holes, bead moist damp. Do not stop.
In and out, in and out till you come Catlin. I wait.
The Chelsea,
New York, 1953.
Caitlin Macnamara (1913-1994)
Married to Dylan Thomas for sixteen years, Macnamara was left in Laugharne, Wales while Thomas travelled to New York to perform his new play Under Milkwood. His visit was marked by excessive alcohol consumption and ill health. Already using an inhaler to cope with the city smog, Thomas experienced severe breathing difficulties while staying at The Chelsea Hotel. Admitted to St. Vincent’s Hospital on 5th November, 1953, Caitlin flew to his bedside. Thomas died four days later from pneumonia.