I paused to stand and watch a man who had come to the road’s divide. My wonder soared as I watched his stare slowly shift from side to side. He stood as if not noticing that many passed him by. They moved without a second glance down the road most traveled by. Then as I watched he stepped full stride toward the path of lesser wear, And soon he vanished from my view round a bend into the snare. I soon, like him, stood center road, faced with that daunting choice. My gaze down his road, causing fear, I quenched my inner voice. For miles I walked the crowded road breathing dust from others feet, Til in despair I stopped and stood, my heart and soul deplete. I gazed about still holding hope, the other path I’d see. On yonder hill I saw him there, the man who mentored me. The path between us steep and rough, un-forged with dangers there, Yet still I left my path of friends, ignoring their bewares. I pressed through hardship, pain and fear o’er rocks jagged and bent. In time I crashed limp on that path, my every resource spent. But then a warming touch I felt, a friendly voice I heard. It said, get up and tread this path. I rose without a word. And as I looked, I saw him there, he continued on his way. His only words as he walked on…“you’re on the path, now stay”. Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry I chose in err. But looking back, perhaps as well…all memories now seem fair. Much time I spent on the beaten path, and what I learned, immense. But I reached, at last, the other path, and it has still made all of the difference. …Jeff Bresee, Inspired by Robert Frost |