Song Before a Quest by Megan Arkenberg

May 29th, 2011 | By | Category: Issue 13 (May 2011), Scheherezades Bequest

Song Before a Quest
by Megan Arkenberg

O give me a coin for the tollway

and give me a cloak for the rain
and the heel of a loaf for the journey

and a skin full of wine for the pain

and give me a needle for mending

the work of the bramble and thorn

and give me a log for the fire

that guards o’er my dreams until morn

and give me a map of the forest

where my pathway untangles and ends

and a basket for gathering berries

in the garden that nobody tends

and give me strong elfwoven armor

and a knife I can hide at my breast

and give me a candle to walk by

when travel in darkness is best

and give me a salve for the scratches,
for the poison I cannot draw out,
and give me a gift for the oracle
who can give me a cure for the doubt

and show me a foe I can conquer,
a branch bent to mark my road’s start.
O give me the name of the sorrow
that rusts like a nail in my heart!

Megan Arkenberg is a student in Wisconsin, but she tries not to let her schooling come in the way of her education. Her work has appeared in Clarkesworld, Strange Horizons, Ideomancer, and many other places. She edits the fantasy e-​​zine Mirror Dance and the historical fiction e-​​zine Lacuna.

2 Comments to “Song Before a Quest by Megan Arkenberg”

  1. Michael McClung says:
    June 2, 2011 at 4:12 pm

    A fine poem, fine, mighty fine.

  2. marta says:
    May 30, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    This is a lovely poem. O, I wish fate would have given me such gifts.

    Thank you for sharing your work.