No matter how well the path is known,
each time we follow the course,
the dice have yet to be thrown.
The planned success, the “could not fail”
can, as the runes are cast,
be lost to the banshee’s wail.
‘Tis not reversal’s face can only mean
failure’s plunge on the diverted road
downhill. Often opportunity is
a serendipitous upset to the rut
we have been trodding once again.
The grace of penicillin reaped from moldy bread.
If we tack with each turn of wind
our humor rises as adventure begins;
we slip the wedge from ‘neath the door
when we open for ourselves the world to explore;
opportunity is exposed when we realize there is more.
To have our life shine with grace, no matter
where the world would lead us in haste;
to let joy be the best expression of our love,
we need to plan our paths with best intent,
but be delighted when sent upon a tangent.
Remember -- no matter how well we know the road
not all the stories, yet known, have been told.
3:55 PM
08/07/08
Sherwood Library,
Alexandria, VA
Author notes
I think it is obvious as sin but I suspect that it only me thinking my work is to trite or banal to begin with. I chose to use Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"
A contest entry
- My 350th contest Invite Only ...Group One by poet2angels.
800 points, ended August 16, 14 entries
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Please tell me what you think, what it makes you feel, how you are moved.
Comments
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omg I loveeed this line- "to let joy be the best expression of our love"! That is so true and so striking.
This is a really beautiful piece and I adored your metaphors about the road and life being a journey. .
Keep it up!
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Thanks for stopping by and for sharing your joy. For joy shared is joy multiplied.
Love, Tom B.
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Robert Frost is a true inspiration...your words have profound meaning. Thank you for sharing.
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I thought about the road not taken and realized as I look at my own life that it was more the road not expected. It led to this piece. Glad you enjoyed it.
Love, Tom B.
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In this day and age, there's very little originality.
Every thought has been thunk. However, uniqueness still exits. Like snow falling from heaven, no two flakes are formed the same. O, we may draw from the same Being but we float down different streams. Therefore, I may follow in steps where others have treaded before but the direction I take makes me so much more. Every road has been taken and trail blazers blazed them for those who tread them. Our adventures begin at that fork in the road.
Well done, bro. Write on. One.
Dez
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We can only share from our similarities to celebrate our differences. I wish it was that simple. But it is true. We might become more available for the changes life puts us through if we were.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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wow.....
this is straight to the point to so well revised. the vision of the piece is well in depth. i loved it all the way through.
great penmanship. keep it up my Friend
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Thanks. Life is never straight and fate plays with turns and gates. I guess I just wanted to show that the more we learn the less we know.
Love, Tom B.
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I was kind of surprised with all the old sounding language when i was reading this and I kept wondering if it was really you that wrote this. I even checked. Then I read your author notes and I saw you were basing it off one of Robert Frost's poems. It does sound like his, now that I think about it. So you did a good job in working on this.
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I wanted to go from the road less traveled to the way the road is full of surprises as it leads you on. I tend to assume a lot of a another poet's styles when I write one inspired by them. It is both a way of saying thanks and a left of over from when I was learning styles and would copy poets I read.
Love, Tom B.
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Yes, I know it is you, as always my dear Bro...because you have a style all your own...
You chose one of my favorite poems by Frost...
I wrote one based on it as well..This is so amazing ad to be it really sums up things in your life right now with all you are going through...You are so strong and the words here are perfect example of that...I love this...
I want to take this time to say thank you not only for being a favorite but a dear friend and Bro and for always having a pleasant word to leave ...a thought of the day like a ray of hope to bring a smile and chase away the clouds....even when you have your own storm clouds overhead....
Thank you ...I appreciate you...so much
Lynda
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I feel neither strong nor bold and this Aug 10th It will be offical -- I am fifty eight years old
I guess the recent sets of happenstance have caused me to stop and look at the results versus the plan I had for where I am. Some it is me and some just the roll of the dice and chance. Like you know, no matter how often you fly it is only a matter of time before they lose you luggage.
I will be out of surgery on Tuesday afternoon. Hold me in your prayers.
Love, Tom B.
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You are so right
Such is life huh? I think I know the source this peice was conjured from. It's funny hardships always come in handy and make the best writes...that's why we poets are able to write consistantly...always the trials of life more often or after the fact not nearly as severe. It's gone be okay *noddin my head*-smile.
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Sometimes the hardest thing to acknowledge is "it is what it is." No matter our great expectations and desire for celebrations -- the moon still goes through phases and the tides shift upon the sands and it rains during the stormy season.
I will be out of surgery Tuesday afternoon and headed home. I will be in to see the Doctor for post op on Wednesay and Friday and Monday. May they all be clean bills of health.
Love, Tom B.
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My friend, you write of a theory I have espoused for so many years, yet your words take on new meaning when you are the writer. You are espousing the Chinese philosophy: when met by an obstacle , treat it as an opportunity! This write, though personal, will be read by so many and be a beautiful guide for those who are lost and need a beacon.
Please don't ever think that your work is trite or banal. Nothing from your pen, or for that matter, any poets pen should ever be put down, only constructively critiqued. I can't find one thing in error with your poem.
a fan and a friend!
may the winds of fate keep the bird of purple poop from your doorstep!
LOve you,
Linda
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I know so well how all the plans can quickly come to naught and of all the useless battles intensely fought. It has taken time and grace to find a way to greet each day as a blessing and an opportunity to give thanks and it still demands a discipline that I am often lacking in.
Love, Tom B.
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This got me thinking right away which is nice; sometimes poetry is almost better than a cup of coffee (almost; caffeine still rules).
God I love your poetry; you can twist words and bring them together into an even oceanic flow. You use imagery in ways only someone who have twisted and played with poetry for years can use it.
Great work and good luck in the contest!
-Jordanne
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This is one of those discussions of how much life is too often chaos with us creating the meaning for all the happenstance. I am glad you enjoyed the dance.
Love, Tom B.
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This is a great piece to start out my morning with. First of all, let me just say that you my dear are the only one to make moldy bread a GREAT poetic device for your poetry. Lovely imagery... the fear of the unknown is all part of its' acceptance. right? I am feeling the wonder left in your words. It is sure to steal a gold win in the contest
Love you,
Mel
P.S. I am glad that yesterday was good for you. Prayers will keep you close with all your friends, and on that path you need to be taking!!
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As I wrote that line, it was both the perfect metaphor to sum that portion of the poem and perhaps the worse thing I could have used. So of course, I had to find a way to make it fit. All the other moldy bread, I pitch in the trash. We have a plan oft more as a pretense of direction or as protection than as a fact that can be depended on.
Love,
Tom B.
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I felt sad reading this but the ending shows there is still hope.
I feel your author notes reflect a sense of being unsure but we as humans all feel this way at times.
Your work is definitely not trite or banal!
I love reading your words. I wait for the stories yet to be told.
Love
Juls
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Our lives are never quite as planned. Sometimes the changes minor, sometimes grand. I think you understand.
It is only that I am aware of how easy it is to be banal or a fool, that keeps me a little safe from becoming one. Plus for those who face the world with the tired boredom of having done it all this will not even ripple their stale pool.
Love, Tom B.
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...and I'm listening!
"we slip the wedge from ‘neath the door
when we open for ourselves the world to explore;"
~~~~~
What better way than with love?
Beckoning stories yet to be told,
old one's left us to ravel, unfold,
and tales gone with those who cast
their lot upon the road I passed.
Wandering, wondering of their fate,
have I come too soon or come too late,
to learn from footprints ventured there
the challenges left to their will and care?
Did feathers fall where the travelers slept
from guardian's wings the pathway kept?
The wind and lost voices distantly call,
warns destiny echoes in my own footfall.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ Thank you, for the light you bear, Tom. My errant muse loves your poem!
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It is a gift to touch, a blessing to inspire.
Love, Tom B.
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No poetry is trite..it is soul work..I am absolutely convinced..... that is why running contests is steppign into sacred area.....
This is beautifully done, my friend.
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When I was in high school a friend of mine said "The truth is only trite because we must repeat it so often to be reminded of its truth." So I often think it is we who are the fools.
This poem is truly an expression of my sense of the wildness of life. "all the well laid plans of mice and men..."
Love, Tom B.
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it's good to read you tonight.
Sweet dreams, Poet. Love, Lane
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I am only musing upon my crust of bread and the light through the slatted blinds. I go into surgery on Tuesday for a shunt to be put in to relieve the pressure.
Perhaps in the days that follow, I will find my sense of humor and twist the tail of fate as I relate what I see from this fleshy cage.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a taste of the wind 'twined 'round my pillow.
Love,
Tom B.
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"To have our life shine with grace, no matter
where the world would lead us in haste;
to let joy be the best expression of our love,
we need to plan our paths with best intent,"
I love you my friend.
Blessings and prayers,
Jin
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Honor -- doing what you oughta when you don't wanta
Grace -- Becoming fluid with what life is at this moment and making the best out of it.
I focus on these in the hopes that my pride, fear, arrogance do not to greatly disrupt the lives of those around me. We can only do the best we can and as we learn turn that into a better form.
Love,
Tom B.
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Excellent Write
You have taken me on a trip with you, and I believe I have been on part of this road before myself. I could feel your emotions when I read this. I know the roads in life are never easy....even when they seem smooth something can jump out and scare the heck out of us. Then we never know what's at the end of our journey, or which bend lies ahead or what joy or pain it will bring. I look at others and find most of the the time my road isn't half as bad as I thought it was....This poem made me take a look inside myself........novy
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I often laugh at how obvious it was in high school as a senior or in college and now how mysterious and unknown it all is. I am full of constant discovery though I can hide out in my arrogance and knowledge at the drop of a hat. My life looks very little like I thought it would. Everyday is another suprise.
Love, Tom B.
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lol it is as obvious as sin but your road has many little twists and turns that are personal to only you so therefore it sets it apart from the original. I see the indecision and the trying to relate it all back to how you will grow from the experiences you now find yourself in. There is always some good from bad, we just have to use a strainer to sift through it all. No doubt you will and then you will write what you have gained from any loss you thought you had. Love, C
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I used to race motorcycles in and earlier lifetime, and the curves are the whole reason for the race. I also know that no matter what we plan for life throughs a little bit more into the mix that we had thought possible.
You are right, I will find the silver lining and the chain left in the cushions after every one has gone home.
Love,
Tom B.
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