In My Time

“I wish it need not have happened in my time,” said Frodo. “So do I,” said Gandalf, “and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J.R.R. Tolkien – The Fellowship of The Ring

Inevitable perhaps, this plague, this
polarization, this sense of impending
doom. Yet sweet peas

and tomatoes grow unconcerned
in the backyard, berries put on
the blue, while next door

our neighbor mows his meadow,
and mourning doves, robins, and
the occasional pileated woodpecker

all seem to know what
to do with this jaunty gift
of time that shows up

every day on the front stoop
waiting for a decision
that’s already been made.