The Road Not Taken (On Reading Robert Frost's Poem) Poem by Andrew Lee

Two roads diverge in a mellow wood
with rugged paths and uphill roads further ahead
that are dim or half-hidden.
When I try to glimpse ahead, the paths snake away
behind thick bushes and something hisses,
'Wherever you go, there you are.'

When young, no matter which road I took,
reversed, chose another road or repeated the cycle,
I carried a heavy heart of desires.
My feet didn't get to choose.
Rather, some creatures within the heart came alive,
feeding on my prides and anxieties.
Soon they pulled me along
in a secular way in a secular world.

I saw many others choosing highways to the cities,
looking for branded cars, gold watches, silvery mansions.
Some became frustrated when dreams proved elusive.
Some took big risks in speculations -
stocks, derivatives and currencies.
Their volatile prices burdened some with debts.
Even forcing some to take a sad fall
from the silvery windows of high-rise buildings
onto shattered pieces of glass.

The illusions cracked.
When pulled along by those creatures,
the roads I walked
were running in the wrong direction.
If I quietly watch the inner circus,
they undress as flashes of mental energy.
Each flash is like a hyperactive puppy
chasing a bone of desire,
biting it, running away to hide,
waiting for the next bone to appear.

Glimpsing their true nature,
I stand a better chance to withstand being pulled along.
Someday we affirm the insights of Frederick Robertson:
'On earth we have nothing to do with success or results,
only being true to God. Defeated when doing right
remains a victory in His eyes.'

Someday we see which earthly road
is more harmonious with this belief,
especially during our last day on earth
when we close our eyes, breathe our last
and take the one road to the Timeless.