R. S. Thomas, “Affinity”

Consider this man in the field beneath,
Gaitered with mud, lost in his own breath,
Without joy, without sorrow.
Without children, without wife,
Stumbling insensitively from furrow to furrow,
A vague somnambulist: but hold your tears,
For his name also is written in the Book of Life.

Ransack your brainbox, pull out the drawers
That rot in your heart’s dust, and what have you to give
To enrich his spirit or the way he lives?
From the standpoint of education or caste or creed
Is there anything to show that your essential need
Is less than his, who has the world for church,
And stands bare-headed in the woods’ wide porch
Morning and evening to hear God’s choir
Scatter their praises? Don’t be taken in
By stinking garments or an aimless grin;
He also is human, and the same small star,
That lights you homeward, has inflamed his mind
With the old hunger, born of his kind.

R. S. Thomas, 1913-2000 – “Affinity” from Collected Poems: 1945-1990