The Thought Not Taken

By Joe Tye (with apologies to Robert Frost)

TWO thoughts converged between my ears,
I could not hang on to both;
One made me smile, the other brought tears
And dragged me backwards through the years
To sad memories of my youth.

The one thought cried and whined and moaned,
That life was so unfair,
At every inconvenience groaned,
Poor petty princess pitifully dethroned
Her glass half filled with air.

The other smiled in gratitude
For the glass half filled with water,
And faced emptiness with fortitude
Having made the choice of attitude
Knowing happiness is that choice’s daughter.

I tell you this for lesson learned
Deadly as the Reaper’s Scythe;
The complainer’s road is dark and churned,
Littered with petty grievances unearned;
I chose to take the brighter path – and that has changed my life.

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