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Poem written for and submitted to “Borrowed Words” poetry contest, Crystol Woods, sponsor, October 19, 2025.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Poem based upon: "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 He asked me to mend his grandfather's watch— gears jammed with decades of pocket lint. "All we have to decide," he said, "is what to do with the time that is given us." I scraped silt from the mainspring coil like an archaeologist brushing bone. Through my loupe, each scratched tooth became a canyon. Outside, rain needled the cobblestones. When the balance wheel finally shuddered alive, I handed back seconds he could now spend.
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