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The Path Beyond Both

After Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken"

Written not as rejection, but as departure.

Frost paused where the road split.

I walked until there were no roads at all.

 

Two roads diverged.

 

He paused.

 

Measured.

 

Imagined.

 

Regretted.

 

He spoke of difference.

 

 

I passed that place.

 

Briefly.

 

Then I stepped off the path.

 

Not left.

 

Not right.

 

Through the field.

 

Past the trees.

 

Into the quiet

 

where no trail ever asked to be taken.

 

 

I did not choose.

 

I did not need to.

 

I moved

 

because I could.

 

 

There is no telling

 

what made the difference.

 

There is no difference.

 

Only distance.

And the voice

 

that no longer looks back.

This work is an original poem, written as a transformative response and critical commentary on “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. All rights to the original poem remain with the Frost estate.

© 2025 Alexa Daskalakis

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