This sovereign

                                      of lost kingdoms,

                                   so great

                                      and yet so fragile

                                   possessing all

                                      that wanders near

                                   his creation's

                                      but a treasure tomb

                                   once possessed

                                      all is lost.
 

     In this poem, we have the three voices confronting each other.  The black, gothic script authoritatively  announces that Darkness is the sovereign of all lost kingdoms.  This statement elicits a remark of admiration from the blue, cursive script, "so great".  This is an interpretation of the illustration on which the poem is written.
     This illustration is a grassy field scarcely lit by filtered rays of sunlight.  A barely visible crowned male face gazes upon this scene from the upper left corner of the page.  Darkness seems to be, not only that which defines light, but that from which light emanates and that to which it will return.
     This assertion is immediately refuted by the red, angular script with the line, "and yet so fragile".  Fragile, the illustration shows, because the allowance of light into this realm violates the sovereignity of Darkness.  By defining light, Darkness relinguishes territory to it.  The blue, cursive script takes the next two lines stating that Darkness conquers all it meets.  The implication being that Darkness is not merely a contrast to light, but a separate entity which feeds on light.  The red script counters by comparing such a realm to a "treasure tomb".  Wealth buried with the dead does little good for anyone.  The black, gothic script takes the last two lines in which it states, once a thing is wholly possessed, absorbed within a host, it ceases to have an identity unto itself.
     With this in-depth discussion of identity, one wonders if we are actually discussing light and darkness or people. Does this poem herald back to "I do this now...for Sharon"? Perhaps what we have here is a description of an unhealthy relatiionship.  Partners fill each others needs physically, but each personality is too extreme to alter itself for commitment to a common unit.  One personality is bright and the other gloomy.  The fear expressed is that the gloomy will overshadow, even permanently hinder the brighter personality.  Tyldsley cautions against total submission, for, once individuality is lost, all is lost.
 

        The music playing is Handel's "overture" from his Music for the Royal Fireworks.  It was found at Jonathan Gustelle's Midi Page.