The Road Taken

Way leads on to way the way that rivers fork
Or lightning strikes or we, our branches bent
With labyrinths of sap, in diagrams of torque
Twist forth and back, the dance that frost has lent

To chance leading suddenly to leaves
As random as a branch: we end the same way
Leaves do, in democracy, as details on a canopy
Of normal trees, and who are we to say

My lower leaf is less than yours, or that the blossom
Of your summer cheek is too high or honed:
For leaves, the way to sky is paved in stems
And roots, so that travel starts at home,

And whichever route we choose to take,
All directions lead to phloem:
Down in shade or up to light we make
Equal shadows on the ground;

Woven into soil without a trace
Or branching into sun, the end's the same:
Whichever way we turn, we face
The direction that we came.

February 8th, 1987