Author's Notes: Inspired by 'Into the West' from the Return of the King soundtrack. If you haven't listened to it already, do so. This poem was spontaneous, so I hope you enjoy it even though it's a little rough around the edges.

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Into the West

Where are you now, child
What lands do you roam
Listen to their cry
They're calling you home

The voices over the water
Sweetly singing, beseeching
Tendrils of tranquility
Come eastward, ever reaching

But you cannot follow it
Young child of Men
'Tis not your fate
To follow them

Those beings beyond fair
Eyes, eternally bright
They have passed from this world
Beyond mortal sight

Yet their song remains
On the ever white shore
Carried upon silver wings
The mournful gulls soar

They have passed beyond
Remember them, lest
We forget the path that leads
Into the West

~Vilya, February 2004