Goodbye Light

Goodbye Light

Goodbye light
of the gentle glow;
accent the moon
halos of innocence
shine in your eyes.

Goodbye light
you travel over water
to gulls and salt
of Western shores;
Disappearing sails.

Rest now good light
burden not your soul
a weight of your heart
tenderly misplaced
now only to rest.

Author's Notes: I know that there are a lot of Lord of the Rings fanfiction pieces out there, but please don't consider this to be just another fanfiction. This poem, to me at least, has depth. I wrote it to the elven race, created by J.R.R. Tolkien. I've taken a class in college called "Myth and Tolkien," and we have studied the world that Tolkien created. One of my favorite creations of his is the race of the elves. I not only like their near perfection, but also their tragic story. This poem is suppose to reflect on immortality and the fact that the elves had to retreat into the West because their souls could not stay in Middle Earth.

As part of the class, we discussed the possibility of the Western shores representing death surrounding Tolkien's life. It is a very key theme in the story. The West is like death to an immortal elf. I am fascinated by this concept and the fact that Tolkien put it in his novels entrigues me to no end. So I wrote this poem in hopes that I could capture the feeling myself.