Or zarua l'tzadik

Eärendil and Elwing brought the jewel
that Feanor'd begrudged when he fled East.
Incensed in Valinor that Valar ruled
while Morgoth ravished Middle-Earth in peace.
Yavanna'd speculated She could mend
with such a boon, the luminescent Trees.
But even should the Ban on Noldor  bend,
She's now implacable to all their pleas.

Supernal glow pre-dating moon and sun

is henceforth only present in the sky.

While heroes'  journey at great peril's done,

their tots are fostered on the other side.
'Til Feänor himself proffers the gems,

not even Valar have clear claim to them.

backwards

In Kabul, Taliban rehung their flag
Assuring females they've nothing to fear
as long as the're accoutred in a bag
and follow men twelve paces to the rear.
For their part, women fly to emigrate
or send their daughters overseas to school.
convinced this government will violate
such promises once it can make the rules.
Two trillion dollars! Not a lot to show
Afghanistan's much like the day we came.
One generation's had the chance to grow
but none--who have resources--will remain.
Another empire packs away its tents
and leaves the place without a government.

the object of desire

Eärendil saw Gondolin destroyed
last bastion of the way life'd been before.
No opportunity to be a boy
as Middle-Earth's configured for more war.
This half-blood princeling grew, and took a bride
with lineage as quirky as his own.
Each, Elvish royalty on mothers' side
and she's the heir to Elu Thingol's throne.
The twain defied the Ban, to bring the Gem
Yavanna'd called for to restore the Trees
of gilt-edged leaves and burnished argent stem.
But she's contemptuous of Noldor pleas.
One nova in the skies of Middle Earth
is all one salvaged silmaril was worth.

maia-a-maia

At terminal velocity, they clashed
the Balrog and the Wizard, undeterred.
The Elvish sword, the many-stranded lash--
What none could watch, the deafest cave troll heard.
Far under Moria, the utmost shaft
that wakened from deep slumber Durin's Bane,
now bore them to the peaks of Aule's craft
Resuming combat in the storm and rain.
The Endless Stair no living dwarf had trod,
persisting only in their griots' rhyme
succumbed to combat of these demi-gods;
it's rubble-shuttered 'til the End of Time.
Tivaldo may land graceful as a cat,
but balrogs hurled from mountaintops, still splat.

fireplay

Two Maiar clash in flame on Durin's span
who hadn't met in Middle-Earth's Third Age.
The fearsome bane of Elf, or Dwarf, or Man,
was unprepared for combat with a mage.
Utumno fell, most balrogs went to ground
disdaining leniency in the far West.
There dozing deep, 'til Durin's folk delved down
insatiable in their mithril quest.
Istari'd played no part in Eru's scheme
as first enunciated long before.
But this old swordsman's tougher than you'd deem
he'll need an entry in Ents' rhymes of lore.
Grey bearer of the Elvish ring of fire
dispatched his foe to the infernal choir.

playing the role

The balrog that contested Durin's span
had slept through the best part of the Third Age.
Proud bane to any dwarf, elf, ent or man
was wholly unprepared to fight a mage.
Olorin--for his part--knew what he faced
debriefing Melian on the far shore
He knew that foes of his own Maia race
survived another generation's war.
Exactly why Iluvatar dispatched
Istari isn't anywhere explained
To Sauron, such might seem a fitting match
a Maia designate as Maia bane.
Earth-rending combat wouldn't mean a thing

except to rear-guard Frodo, and the Ring.

foul air

Olorin hoped a pipe might help him think;
no memory could guide him at this fork.
Some fragrant smoke might purge the evil stink
that couldn't be attributed to orcs.
The caves of trolls had their unwholesome smell
but something worse offends the wizard's sense;
What Pippin wakened in the guardroom's well
predates the coming of the Elves, and ents.
Each option leads to leagues of lampless gloom
without a stick of fuel to catch a spark.
If anyone's to get through Khazad Dum
one mis-step could be parlous in the dark.
Staunch friend and guide to dwarf, man, hobbit, elf
shows no regard for safeguarding himself.