`A Spell Woven By Consonants and Vowels'

This poem was left untitled in manuscript by R.S. Thomas at the time of his death in 2000. It was published two years later in Residues:

"Don't ask me;
I have no recipe
for a poem. You
know the language,

"know where prose ends
and poetry begins.
There should be no
introit into a poem.

"The listener should come
to and realize
verse has been going on
for some time. Let

"there be no coughing,
no sighing. Poetry
is a spell woven
by consonants and vowels

"in the absence of logic.
Ask no rhyme
of a poem, only
that it keep faith

"with life's rhythm.
Language will trick
you if it can.
Syntax is words'

"way of shackling
the spirit. Poetry is that
which arrives at the intellect
by way of the heart."