Tristan Robert Lange
what now?
the sun is risen full over the horizon
sunrise but a memory from many moonsets ago
to the few awake enough to witness
honest enough to look inward at
the
v o i d
within
while the world sleeps in comfort
resting in its self-assurance
that tomorrow things will be the same
that dreams will be delivered
that hopes will be harbored
that lives will be leveraged
for the good of a few
who keep falsities
alive as an antigen
to paradisial propagation
u
n
a
w
a
r
e
that the script has been flipped
complacency cannot corral courageous change
darkness remains
simply because we put up sunblock
that still fails to dull the sight
and stirs up a primal fright
in those used to artificial light
yet artificiality cannot compare
to a reality so brilliant
that its purity reflects divinity
a blossoming of a new age
the turning of a new page
where peace on earth never ends
where selfless love supercedes selfish trends
where all war ends
where tears death never rends
and community individuality defends
the sun is fully risen
the moonset-moments long past
where are the few awake to witness
honestly looking inward at
the
deep v o i d
within
if you are reading this
the question becomes
what now?
© 2025 Tristan Robert Lange. All rights reserved.
April 21, 2025
East Stroudsburg, PA
POET’S NOTE:
I didn’t announce this as a series from the start. I wanted the poems to speak for themselves—to unfold like a mystery. And they have.
what now? is the final piece in a five-part Holy Week arc, progressing in this order: the agony, a skull called place, holy nothing, the penumbral revelation, and now what now?
The concept was to follow the Passion, death, resurrection, and aftermath of Jesus the Christ—without ever mentioning him by name. Instead, the reader steps into his point of view. The only deviation is holy nothing, where Christ is dead. That poem shifts the POV to the disciples—left in silence, uncertainty, and grief.
One final note: the question mark in what now? is completely intentional. It’s the only punctuation in the entire series. I wanted it to jar just a little—like a ripple in still water, sparking an inner quest of self-discovery as well as philosophical and spiritual awakening.