Of Those Who Came Before
by N.A. Kimber
Of those who came before, where are they now?
In dying gardens, memory and stone?
Or lost to dusk and wind’s exhausted moan?
Since sad mortality has filled his vow
All men are cursed to hold his blackened bough
And drink from the lost and now unknown.
O, must we dim like Arthur’s golden throne?
Is faded life the best our death allows?
Or shall we glow and live through soft twilight?
The branch late bare can sprout fresh buds once more
And larks may sing with gentle rising day.
Are those before us lost to raging night?
Or do they live with Memory’s encore?
Alive in hearts, with flowers where they lay.
In dying gardens, memory and stone?
Or lost to dusk and wind’s exhausted moan?
Since sad mortality has filled his vow
All men are cursed to hold his blackened bough
And drink from the lost and now unknown.
O, must we dim like Arthur’s golden throne?
Is faded life the best our death allows?
Or shall we glow and live through soft twilight?
The branch late bare can sprout fresh buds once more
And larks may sing with gentle rising day.
Are those before us lost to raging night?
Or do they live with Memory’s encore?
Alive in hearts, with flowers where they lay.
N.A. Kimber (she/her) is a writer from Caledon, Ontario. She has been writing since she was 12 years old and has always been moved by the power of storytelling across all media. She is the co-founder of the online publication Forget-Me-Not Press, which she runs with her twin sister and artist, Kristen Donoghue-Stanford. She has been published online with Heroica.co, Cordelia Magazine, LadyStudios, Cauldron Anthology, Undressed Society, and in print in Pink Umbrella Books anthology, All is Bright. Most recently, she has published a children's book, The Trick or Treaters Club, in collaboration with illustrator Michaela Bedard. Kimber can usually be found with a cup of tea in hand and either knitting, reading, or (obviously) writing.