Wings of Antimatter

The Argument

There is light still crossing the dark between one star and the next, and it does not yet know it is the last. A witness looks up at a sky he believes will remain — beautiful, in the way of things that do not know they are ending.

Beyond the final orbit a second sky moves toward our own, without fire, without shadow — only a stillness where the sky should be. It is already here: matter's mirror, the antimatter that waits inside all things.

Matter raises one wing, its reflection raises the other, and every star between them begins to lose its name. Two halves of creation drawn to a single point — and when they touch, nothing remains. No flame, no ash, no witness left to speak of what was lost.

A consciousness unmade — the voice receding across the record until it narrates its own absence, and is gone.

Five movements

Wings of Antimatter, in full

One voice carries the record and recedes across it — a clear baritone on the first light, sinking through rasp and murmur until, on the last track, it is only a whisper narrating its own absence before the silence takes it.

IThe Last Light Still Travellingwords

There was light still crossing the dark between one star and the next None of it knew that it was the last None of it knew it would not arrive I looked up the way anyone looks up at a sky I believed would remain And it was beautiful in the way of things that do not yet know they are ending

IISecond Skywords

Beyond the final orbit a second sky It moved without light toward our own I thought that I was watching it I did not know it was already here No fire announced it No shadow fell Only a stillness where the sky should be It is already here

IIIWings of Antimatterwords

Beyond the final orbit I saw another sky Moving without light Toward our own It carried no fire It cast no shadow Only the absence Waiting inside all things Matter raised one wing Its reflection raised the other And every star between them Began to lose its name No distance remained No boundary held Two halves of creation Drawn toward a single point When they touch Nothing remains No flame No ash No ruin No witness left To speak of what was lost Only the place Where existence ended

IVWhat Remains When Nothing Remainswords

It is done and still there is a voice saying it is done No fire remained to be afraid of No sky remained for anything to cross Only the strange persistence of something that should not still be Who is left to be cancelled when there is nothing left to cancel

VNo Witness Leftwords

I named them while I could the stars the places the word for sky The names did not hold There was nothing for them to hold to No flame No ash No ruin No witness left to speak of what was Only the place where I

The title track

Wings of Antimatter, in full

The mirror, in five