The Mentor Poem by Jeff Bresee

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 other's 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 still made all of the difference.