Till the sun breaks down

His name was Thom Hunter. He was 42 when he died. That is all I know about him. But there's a bit more to know about someone else. Someone in particular loved Thom Hunter. And that someone had a plaque placed on a bench in Central Park, near Strawberry Fields, on which were these words: Though lovers be lost, love shall not; and death shall have no dominion.

No credit was given to Dylan Thomas, but considering how small a plaque, there was hardly room.

And Death Shall Have No Dominion

And death shall have no dominion.
Dead mean 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.

And death shall have no dominion.
Under the windings of the sea
They lying long shall not die windily;
Twisting on racks when sinews give way,
Strapped to a wheel, yet they shall not break;
Faith in their hands shall snap in two,
And the unicorn evils run them through;
Split all ends up they shan't crack;
And death shall have no dominion.

And death shall have no dominion.
No more may gulls cry at their ears
Or waves break loud on the seashores;
Where blew a flower may a flower no more
Lift its head to the blows of the rain;
Through they be mad and dead as nails,
Heads of the characters hammer through daisies;
Break in the sun till the sun breaks down,
And death shall have no dominion.

I cannot forget that bench I saw three weeks ago. I keep thinking of it, imagining the morning sun lighting the metal plaque, making it shine against the dull and worn wood of the bench. I picture someone sitting down a moment, taking a minute to catch their breath or reflect, as we did. Or the bench sitting empty in the night, its sentiment ever-present, yet its words silent and unread. I think about a man I never knew, and a stranger who loved that man, and I wonder what was their story. But I do not wonder why or how I came across that particular bench. When we walked away, I smiled at what I knew. The end of life does not mean the end of love - death shall have no dominion.