Outlived

So this is your warren of secrets,

Old thoughts, in a bright new world;

How long did you think you’d keep it,

Before it was overturned?

We come, fresh-faced from the future

To bundle you into the past,

Along with the spells and sutures

Of a time, outlived at last.’

 

I turned to the young intruder

And paled at his discontent,

The arrogant eye unsmiling,

The lip curled in contempt.

‘You think that the world’s before you,’

I said to his youthful sneer,

‘Well, I’ll not keep or curb you,

Or your children will be here!’

 

David Lewis Paget