The Road Less Travelled

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If you take the road less travelled,
don’t be surprised if you travel alone.

You might spot the bald eagle
or see the mountain goat
perched on the cliffside
or find pools of pristine water
in remote lands,
but your hermit heart
still belongs to people.

Ask the lonely ones
who try so hard
to find a way into life,
who feel lost amid
a sea of strangers,
and who sleep in empty arms.

Their sky may be filled with stars,
but it will not save them from dark nights
and, if they suffer too many,
their bucket list loses all value.

If you take the road less travelled,
you will need an ally in the heart.
So, bring along a good book of poetry.

And when you find a caravan
of wandering troubadours
or a little village where people
still love silence, join them,
at least for a while.

Once you realize, deep down,
that every one is a misfit,
you can find your tribe anywhere.

Start with the person nearby
and ask, “To what or to whom
does your heart belong?”

Sun tree dirt road copy.jpg

I love the idea of tracing to whom or what your heart belongs as a way of finding roots: it could be roots in people (family, friends, and loved ones, or in group or community), in a place (the beach, the Redwoods); or in nature itself or in the Earth as a whole; it could be in your work or in an intellectual or philosophical tradition, or in some cause or form of activism, etc. 

To whom or what
does your heart belong?

The Road Less Travelled appears in The Song of Falling Stars, the 7th entry in my Valentine’s Day series and in my upcoming book The Undiscovered Country.

© Nick LeForce 2020
All Rights Reserved

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