Not Remembering

[written_leaves]

I pity you, that your hopes yet live;
I am sorry that I must see
Them die.

Of the two lives left on that mountain, only one of them was ready to live - and really, he was the only reason for the other to even bother with drawing another breath.

Not Remembering

There is a certain peace in ending;
No more striving, no more steps.
For this death I have long been prepared,
Clad and anointed for burial with the
Blessing of the Lady,
Sent upon the way to my grave.
All my hopes, slowly shed upon the road -
It is all long past now, Sam;
They were slowly bled from my heart
Until I could no longer even
Remember them.

It is better this way, Sam;
The not remembering.

No grieving for the loss
This way.
Strangely at peace,
Though the world fall in fire around us.
I am free at last.
Finally free...
Death no longer has any hold on me.
Bereft of life, future, hope -
What have I to lose by dying?

Wrap me in your Elven gravecloth
And let me lay upon your breast.

It is better this way, Sam.
Not remembering hope.
But for your sake,
I will go
A little farther.
I pity you, that your hopes yet live;
I am sorry that I must see
Them die.

-