The Twilight Kingdom

© 1999 Jeremy Tripp
All rights reserved.

This is the way the World Ends
This is the way the World Ends
This is the way the World Ends
Not with a Bang but a Whimper

—T.S. Eliot

I

I stand here, alone, in death's Twilight Kingdom.
On the border of infinite
Between The Bright Land and The Dark Land.
Either would be better than this horrid land,
The Infinite Wasteland of broken dreams —
Shattered promises — slaughtered lives.

Everything here is nothing —
The broken pillars of the past —
The Dwellings That Touched the sky —
All skeletons of man's Terrible ambition.

This Desecrated land
No more the pleasant nursery
Where Man was born

It is now and forever,
The prison of those left behind,
The forgotten ones.

I sit here near the polluted,
Stagnant river of life,
Not needing to drink,
For there is nothing.

The cool wind blows sometimes —
That at least is something.
Although it is like us,
Neither Hot nor Cold
        EMPTY

There are others here, The Hollow Men,
Like me, Alone, but not quite
We all have our memories,
All the Good slowly fading —

        The first kisses,
        The first Love,
        All the good times,
        All the tender moments.

Giving power to the bad ones —

        The missed kisses,
        The longing for Love,
        The betrayals,
        The Painful Moments.

All adding to our sorrow.

We whisper to each other sometimes
Our raspy voices echoing
In the eternal twilight
Slicing each other’s souls
Like so many crystal shards

Some that have been here longer
Wish for the end —
Oblivion —
Or the Funeral Pyre of the Dark Land

I, like the other Young Ones
Yearn for the past
Even the bad moments.
Anything but the Emptiness.

We are faded shades
In this land of oblivion.
We squandered our time,
And now we are lost
        FOREVER

III

Why am I here?
What did I do to deserve this?
I did nothing.
That was my crime
A decision too late —
Or not at all.

I waited,
Like the others,
Tried to have fun
Hoping to Decide later.
The End came Too Fast.

        Life is longer than you think.
        Death is just the beginning —
        The Doorway to eternity.

Back to top of page