Published May 14th 2018 for International Dylan Thomas Day. @DyddDylanDay

I’m grateful to the first of my heroes.
To Dylan Thomas I proffer my love.
For making me see the wonder of words…
Because of that I can’t thank him enough.

The poem’s more about me than Dylan Thomas…

1969 ANNO DYLANI

“To begin at the beginning…” he said,
Often supposed to be the best of starts;
But my being sent to technical school,
Would likely stifle a love of the arts.

No aptitude for wood or metalwork;
Out of place when it came to surveying
And Geometrical Machine Drawing.
Did Mum pick the wrong school? I’m just saying…

I might have supposed that Mr Beddows
Was some kind of agent provocateur;
But at our school, boys had to do German
And couldn’t do French until the fifth year.

Working in a school run on old-school rules,
Our new English…