Two Poems Diverged

A 'choose your own story' bit of fluff (or maybe it's merely lint)

         Two Poems Diverged


         Two poems diverged on a word and I,

         I chose the one less troubled by. ▶︎

         A lighter poem for all to read,
         of beauty borne on nature’s steed,
         where snow-capped purple mountains rise,
         and lilting songbirds fill the skies.
         Bright rainbows in the firmament,
         with angel’s wings and wonderment.
         And dozing there beneath a tree,
         might be a happy fool like me.
 

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         I chose the one more troubled by. ▶︎

         A darker poem, let all beware,
         filled with dread and bleak despair.
         A tortured nightmare black with fright,
         No hint of hope, no glint of light.
         Half glimpsed things that rustle ‘round
         on reeking paths through rotting ground.
         And lurking there behind a tree
         might be a grinning ghoul like me.
 

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         Epilogue ▶︎

         Two poems diverged in different voice,
         more or less you made your choice.
         Each path led on to silly rhymes,
         with either choice a waste of time!
 

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         Terrence G. Fisher 2020



Author's note: ▶︎

This poem started as an experiment with dropnotes and turned into something more fun. There's a riff on The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost and a smidgen of Trees by Joyce Kilmer. I didn't copy the poem's structure from Frost, but I paraphrased lines from his final verse as my starting point.
 

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