Always Options

…in response to the 10th prompt of 2010 on Writer’s Island, I offer a perspective on perspective…




Always Options

•

he came upon divergent ways
that stretched beyond the road he’d trod

he would go forth this was his mind
but had no notion which way that was

the pathway left was sparse with step
the roadway right was traveled plenty

leaning low to great extreme
he examined close the evidence

it came clear that those who journeyed left
were light of weight with timid step

while those who traveled onward right
wore finest boot of heavy heel

he thought on this for quite some time
until at last he knew for sure

he started neither left nor right
but instead went straight ahead

he hacked and carved and blazed a trail
into the new for those who’d follow

wise in life possessed of logic
he realized to where he’d come

the threshold of a new frontier
too raw for the sated too brute for the weak

those that would survive and prosper
would be among the enlightened bold

it would be those who’d choose this trail
full of promise made by his hand

with spirit full and muscled zest
he whacked and chopped and cleared the way

for those who’d come who were empowered
to seize possibility — a bright new world

• • •

(haiku)

•

trail forked this spring morne
white-tails chose the woods instead
always more options

• • •

rob kistner © 2010



• dedicated to the visionaries who see beyond •

26 thoughts on “Always Options”

  1. I like the fact that you chose neither fork but made your own path. To be honest that thought never even occured to me. It was a well done eye opener that made me think…what sort of sheep am I? Thank you for sharing.

  2. What this poem does is to make us really consider our choices, weigh them up then do our own thing, which I have come to realise is what I do, sometimes to my own disadvantage!

    I also very much enjoyed the form and language of this poem, and indeed the picture above it.

    1. Definitely not easy Keith, but bravo to those who have the courage to go for it — this world needs a bit of bold fresh thinking right now…

      …rob

  3. I’m with Robert about your choice of a unique path. We live in a black/white world, unless we decide to focus on the plethora of gorgeous grays. Trailblazers don’t always live to see the results of their decisions, but generations call them blessed… (or not. Depends on whether you’re an indigenous person!)

    Great food for thought, Rob, thanks! Amy

  4. I like the fact that your poem also points back to its creator who throws out a word or two and then watches each of us hack and chop our way to a new place and even more creation. It truly fits the prompt, the prompter, and all those who respond.

    thank you Rob,

    Elizabeth

  5. Wonderful piece! Of course, a new path makes the most sense. Let’s see what happens with those who arrive upon this three-tined fork…

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