The End of the Word as We Know It

The End of the Word as We Know It' is a cycle of poetry composed by Wes Unruh. In this work Wes Unruh writes about our relationship to text, tied as it is into the restlessness, of the unburied dead and the impressions our words leave on the as yet unborn. Contained in these pages is a poetry cycle wrapped in the neither/nor initiation of self as an event and consciousness as a cascade. 'The End of the Word as We Know It' was written over the course of several years, but the bulk of the work was completed during the tornado outbreak of April, 2011 while the storms raged outside. Each poem in this cycle sets the stage for the next, an extended meditation on what text, words, and even letters mean. The book begins with the poem the title of the book is taken from, previously published as a lyrical element of Unquiet Mind's 2004 album TEOTWAWKI, which situates the rest of the book at the crux between time and death where the great engine is fueled by us, as we seem to be meaning. Outcry this Dark Story is narrated by Thorn, a letter, a giant, a whirlwind force of nature called up by the anger of the displaced and unburied dead. Thorn itself is subsumed into a morpheme, and the wind dissipates. Additional poetry throughout the book establishes the neither/nor construct of signifier without sign, balanced between what does matter and what mind does. The energy that continues throughout this book criticizes the present for dishonoring the dead, yet flowers into an appreciation for the bewilderment and sorrow of the coming generations of humanity.