Poem Therapy: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Dylan Thomas

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

 Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light
---

My father is eighty-four. He is burning and raving the close of day, and I hope he can continue to rage against the dying of the light for many more years.

His spirit is indomitable. Fierce.

His body is bent like a willow in a harsh wind. Even so, this doesn't stop him from being the force he is.

I've put off interviewing him for five years out of foolish superstition. It's time to record his stories and write his life.

He was a child of the Great Depression, he served in WWII, went to college on the GI bill, built his empire, which he oversees to this day, is father to seven children. He forgets nothing, remembers everything. He loves the land.

He will not go gentle into that eternal dark.