The poem opens with a strange, almost paradoxical idea: light will extinguish light. Brightness doesn't win over darkness here; it consumes itself. From there, the speaker says that fading is "a matter of going out alone," as if dying or disappearing is something each of us has to do without company.
The image of the cold white birch carries the feeling. It rises "like smoke," pale and thin, and seems unaware of the present moment, "in absolute ignorance" of it. That phrase can sound harsh, but it also suggests a kind of innocence, a thing simply existing without understanding what is happening to it. Then the birch is "drowned" in melancholy, and the poem calls that melancholy "most beautiful."
The mood is hushed, wintry, and still. The speaker doesn't seem frightened by loneliness or loss. Instead, sadness is treated as something to look at calmly, even admire. The title, "Trakl-esque," hints at a deliberate style of dark, quiet imagery, though the poem itself is what sets the tone.