contingencies

One roadway ramifies from Bilbo's door
traversing Middleearth from ice, to sand.
Each crossroads, choices leap from two, to four;
no telling--once embarked--where one may land.
It's hindsight that imbues a life with plot
explaining turnings chosen on a whim
imputing there's cognition where there's not.
And others' epics all depend on him.
His smoking buddy proved a puissant mage;
a vagrant in the tavern proved a king.
The forces that would clash in this Third Age
converged on Frodo and his precious ring.
Vicissitudes test hobbit's wits, or man's;
life happens while you're making other plans