20211210.0430

Never taking up the mallet to
Beat upon the heads of those
Who fall out of tune with the
Progressive melodies, I
Cannot complain so much at
Discordant cacophony that
Drowns out harmonies

20211209.0430

There ever seems more yet to do
And little time to see it through
Yet failing it will many rue
Though they abstain to staff the crew
That needs be there to do it
So I press on against the need
And call out warnings few will heed
Rejecting them as but a screed
And soon I will say "Screw it."

20211208.0430

She goes today to try her hand
At some new task, and she will stand
For judgment in another land
Where blue topaz abounds
She goes with hope, she goes with skill
She goes away, and I will still
Sing her praises, come what will
Where blue topaz abounds

20211207.0430

Plunging in I
Find myself sucking at
What others dispose of
Trying to dislodge it so that
More can flush away

20211206.0430

The little dinghy drifts aimlessly on the waves
The foghorn sounds again and again and
For a time
The dinghy moves under power
Going at a decent clip
But not for long
And it drifts again

20211205.0430

Remember, remember
The fifth of December
But I cannot bring to my mind why
I know no reason
This day, in this season
Should merit some strange battle-cry

20211204.0430

Daily striving to harvest
Just one useful thing from the 
Irregular rows planted and tended
Furrows graven into the field
Watered once and let to sprout
Rarely growing green

20211203.0430

Days dawn later and die earlier
Lights come on sooner and linger longer

The brown of grass and bough and bush
A different dun than summer's due

Yet green still grows upon the ground
Promise and proposal of plenty

20211202.0430

A pair of chickens scratching in the dirt

Pecking away at the seeds they see

Eggs to come whether the rooster visits or not

Either way will make a meal

20211201.0430

Those few who read this consistently--and I thank you--will know that I've considered before the idea that I should leave off this webspace in favor of other projects. This year, I'm doing it; I'll populate this month with material, and in 2022, I'll let it stand without further amendment. I'm not looking at deleting the blog, though that might happen, but given some shifts that have recently occurred for me, I need to streamline and consolidate my work.
I'm not leaving off writing. Indeed, I'll still be maintaining the blog for the Tales after Tolkien Society as well as continuing to work (and advertise, let's be honest) on ElliottRWI.com. And I'm doing a fair bit of freelance writing, as well. Some of it even pays decently. But with all of that, it's getting to be just a bit more than I can comfortably handle to address this, too, and this blog has served its purpose for me. I've used it to refine my online writing voice (an ongoing process, I know) and to demonstrate to myself that I can keep a thing going. It's just time to have something else going, instead.
I hope you'll join me, or continue to do so, at the TaT and ElliottRWI blogs noted above. I've appreciated having you.