The Path Most Taken
On the gurgling remains of Winter
as she seeps back into the earth
on a path around a lake
flanked by the casualties of winter's breath
cattails...
brown and bent with broken heads
backs turned to the pale yellow corn stock stubble
standing in mud clad fields
that lie beneath scattered hints of green
where a red barn and silo stand in wait
A gentle breeze... a ripple on the lake
cattail fluff floating in the air
a symphony composed by songbirds and frogs
drifts across the land and bubbling streams
that cut across the path
Moss lies abreast the thin skin of winter
still remaining in places
where the sun never shines
A blanket of burnt amber needles
and prickly cones
lie beneath a dark green canopy of pines
impaled by glinting spears of sunlight
where the path...for a momeent...is lost
Thump...thump...thump.. the beat of leather souls
on wooden planks over the marshlands...
The lake erupts in torrents of water tendrils
falling from the wings
slapping the face of the lake
as geese take to the sky...
And beyond the forest of pines...
the oaks and maples
display their new burgundy buds
and the few remaining
leaves of Autumn...
all crinkled and curled
still clinging to the past
on a well-worn path
that circles around a lake
with no beginning and no end
where the seasons come and go...
as do... I.
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Submitted on June 14, 2020
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 1:11 min read
- 13 Views
Quick analysis:
| Scheme | AXBXCCXCXX BXCCD ACC CCCXX CC CCBE CCCXXXXDBXXE |
|---|---|
| Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
| Characters | 1,288 |
| Words | 237 |
| Stanzas | 7 |
| Stanza Lengths | 10, 5, 3, 5, 2, 4, 12 |
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"The Path Most Taken" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/53702/the-path-most-taken>.
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