"This Visible Worm" is one of my favourites. I wrote it years ago after seeing the movie Dangerous Minds, in which a teacher asked her students to take the Dylan/Dylan challenge; that is, to find the common elements in the works of Dylan Thomas and Bob Dylan.
I decided to set myself the "William Willie challenge." This poem first appeared in the British literary magazine, Magma, way back in 2003
THIS VISIBLE WORM
a homage to William Blake and Willie Nelson
She isn't the ramblin' kind,
but a bloom from a pretty rose tree,
and she gave all her love to this visible worm
and made a good man out of me.
The first time I saw her sweet face,
I felt clean and as pure as a lamb,
yet strong as a tyger and brave as a sweep
for she's made me the man that I am.
To buy her the things that she needs
I will work graveyard shift at the mill.
No matter how dark and satanic the toil
I'll all of her wishes fulfill.
And on our days off we will stroll,
through the echoing woods hand in hand.
Our songs we'll combine in the sweet Georgia pine
a pleasant and green forest land.
(c) Ruth Latta, 2003, 2020
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