The road before me so diverged
Into a thousand paths to nowhere
And I stood at the fork of all beginnings
Wondering which was loss and winning
Until realizing that I did not care
I took but one out of the thousand
Which led me to another and led to more
And with each crossing, passing, meeting
I was learning, hearing, knowing, seeing
Each was no more than just some more
I observed the facets of each road
The hills of one and the lows of another
The great blues skies and deep, dark depths
The outward joys and the secrets kept
Until realizing the ultimate truth
The road before me never diverged
Into a thousand paths to nowhere
And I stood only at the fork of one beginning
And I wondered not of loss or winning
I was simply experiencing life
Posted to dVerse
Wow Nick, this is so rich in so many ways. Form, content, choice of words... and above all it is rich with your voice. I love the crescendo nature of the poem and the way it evolves from stanza to stanza making each last verse a great finale and completes the journey with "I was simply experiencing life" - awesome.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous... The ending is perfect. An absolute pleasure to give voice to. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteBeth
so many layers to this, beautiful...
ReplyDeleteSo very true, Nick. Whichever path we choose we experience life; and when truth be told at the ends of our lives, we probably would not have made different choices. A wonderful poem.
ReplyDeleteI read this aloud, which I rarely do, and thereby enjoyed your take on Frost immensely.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I have a joke when we're uncertain where to turn. One of us will declaim in a firm theatrical voice: "A path diverged in the wood and I....I became confused." This poem is no joke. It's very beautiful.
ReplyDeleteNick, I love this. I think if I were to do my own take on Frost's wonderful poem (one of my favorites) it would be similar to yours. It fascinates me to think of all the choices I've madein life, however insignificant, and where they've led me. This is quite thought-provoking and lovely. Victoria
ReplyDeletenice...and life is there for the experiencing...we can only go forward and better to do so without regrets...some nice underlying wisdom in this...
ReplyDeleteTrue that life is in the journey itself, not always the destination..... Frost was a master of common vernacular and I think you touched it well here......
ReplyDeleteLovely. Reminds me also of Terry Pratchett and the Trousers of Time--the question of whether or not you can somehow end up in the wrong leg. Not to be flippant, though, because it's a lovely poem with a Frostian weight to the rhythm. Thanks. (I especially liked it because I am someone always worried about the road not taken.)
ReplyDeletesimply experiencing life...think that's the road to go...totally with you nick...enjoyed your play on frost here..just recently read "the road not taken"
ReplyDeleteVery nice...love the repeat of first ant last with different last line...the repeat has such a nice sound to it...bkm
ReplyDeleteThis is well done. Harder, I think, to choose a poem that everyone knows, but you have ticked the boxes here.
ReplyDeletebest poem! I have read tonight (I know I said that to another...but you just shot that one out of the saddle with this one.)
ReplyDeletevery good job.
thank you for sharing.