Before

Before the maple leaf -the seed, a tree
Before the lighthouse—lost ships, high seas
Before the airplane -a bicycle, wild birds
Before maps -animal trails, hunches, vistas

Before a wind that kills—a breeze that stills
Before the money-  the matter of empire
Before empires –  caves
Before heroic profile imprints-  handprints

Before the made and marketed world- a steely sky
Before the coin purse -the medicine bag
Before the weaponry of war -tools of survival
Before the monument -the human accomplishment

Before our rise and fall-the unaccountable folly
Before folly- the hunch, the mark, the mystery 
Before the mystery- What?
Before what?