We walked long together, more steps than there are
On the whole Road until the Earth’s end, so it seemed.
And I watched as you slept waking sleep in our footprints,
And now and then, Frodo, I watched as you dreamed.

I heard you ask riddles, demanding the dark
Give you answer. Cease whispers and murmurs, you said.
And I guess that it spoke in the roaring of Mordor,
But I never heard any cries of the dead.

Sometimes you seemed almost to sing in your sleep,
A chant rising and falling like waves on a beach.
And the words of the song were of longing for comfort,
Some light ever near that you never could reach.

But worst were the nightmares, when day never came
To a land cursed, forsaken by both foe and friend.
And I tried to remember if once we were happy,
If once, long ago, we hoped this quest might end.

Now here at the Havens I watch as you leave
On a white ship bound for the Earth’s end, so it seems.
And I wish you the best of whatever lies out there,
And most of all, Frodo, I wish you sweet dreams.

–Corbin Halloway