The Road Taken - Oct 9 2022

 

The Road Taken

Oct 9 2022

Hinge.

Inflection point.

Fork in the road.

A moment in time, an event

when life radically changes.

As Yogi Berra said

when you come to the fork, take it.

OK, it doesn't make sense,

but at least suggests

you have a choice.

Except most often you don't.

Most often

its luck, misjudgment, a tough break.

Yet hard as it is

you somehow adjust

to the new status quo.

Because luck is neither good nor bad

but what you make of it.

Or persist, deny, complain.

Plant yourself in the road

and refuse to budge,

as if traffic will stop

fate take note.

Yogi also famously said

it ain't over 'til it's over.

Because with or without you

life goes on.

There's always something;

get used to it.

An homage, of course, to Robert Frost's famous title. Although unlike me, the celebrated man of letters did not lean on the wisdom of a hall of fame catcher who is frequently misquoted. And even more frequently misattributed: given credit (or discredit!) for some amusingly muddled thing he never actually said.

Although the poem is written in terms of our personal lives, it actually began when I was reading an article about Russia's war in Ukraine in which there was talk of inflection points: in the battle on the ground: in Russian public opinion; in Putin's power. I've seen too many of these come and go; of both false hope and catastrophizing. So I remain skeptical, because prediction is fraught, and inflection points are really only evident after the fact.

If I was comfortable with vulgarity, I suppose the poem could be distilled down to “shit happens”; that is, the illusion of agency. When really, we can only control our own internal attitude and emotions, and are more often reacting and adjusting to events than initiating and controlling them. The Stoics recognized this well over 2000 years ago.

I hope this poem doesn't strike the reader as aphoristic, preachy, simplistic. The last thing I want is my poetry to sound like is a Hallmark card!