And Death Shall Have No Dominion

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And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.

Dead man naked they shall be one

With the man in the wind and the west moon; 

When their bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,

They shall have stars at elbow and foot; 

Though they go mad they shall be sane,

Though they sink through the sea they shall rise again; 

Though lovers be lost love shall not; 

And death shall have no dominion.

Dylan Thomas

This is one stanza of a longer poem, but enough for today. (Thomas's images often baffle me, and I wish I had on hand my trusty guidebook to all things Thomas - "Where Have All the Old Words Got Me?" by Ralph Maud, who is wonderful at unraveling his poetry.) Last night, a dear family member of mine passed away. To know that love does not die, that death does not rule - matters a great deal.