I sit beside the fire

by J.R.R. Tolkien

I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;

Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall ever see.

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.

But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door.

* * *

Okay, I admit it: I'm nostalgic. Everyone can surely tell from the poems I've put up anyway. Freshman year is over. I'm a grown-up girl now. My approaching birthday adds to it all. So many things that once I cared about are over now.

I get in these moods sometimes, like Bilbo does, when I just think awhile. I think of the past, and also of the future. I think of all the things I have seen, and all the things I haven't seen.

But as long as there are people still around, these moods only last for a time. Eventually the present comes back, and I realize that it is the most important thing. "All you have to do is decide what to do with the time that is given you." You can't change the past. Take care of the present and the future will take care of itself. Time spent sitting and thinking have to be secondary to time spent actually living life.