Before

Before the bated breath, 

The warm sweat, the first cry,

Before the faintest flicker 

Of hands, that softly

Caress the pounding chest, 

Before a life took shape.

Before the warmth of love,

Cooled to enmity, 

Cooled to antipathy,

Feeding the embers of war, 

Before the frown, the nod

Before a life made haste. 

Before the key was hidden, 

That unlocked the sacred 

Treasure, a measure

Of passing the final test,

Revealing an obscured,

Now brightened, path

Of full infinity.

Before the blips of data,

Before the flips of cash,

Before the eyes wide shut

Were closed to wounded men,

And summer’s gentle breezes

Could not mend, nor hold

Its weary whispers from 

The lashes of early snow.

Before life in a maze.

Before the heartbeat could 

Repeat, before the sweat

Could slowly seep. Before 

The dreams of dreary sleep.

Before the stone could finally 

Crack, before dark death 

Was on every track,

Through the fields of broken mist,

Bound up by bated breath,

Well-hidden within the chest,

Before the first harsh pound

Of a true life.