The Winter of 1998 was the first time in over two decades that I found myself immobilized by the heavy snow of Michigan. For three very long days. One result of that enforced isolation was a poem called Winter's Threads.

Not being one to repeat past mistakes (I much prefer the excitement of making new ones), I packed my motor home the day after Christmas, 1999, with the intention of spending winter in California. I made it only as far as Louisiana, where I stopped to visit family (and instead became involved with family). Nonetheless, I stayed warm, renewed some familial bonds, and learned I'm really not very well suited to the travelling life.

Eight weeks later, with warm weather breaking in Michigan, I again headed North. While on the road, with little else to occupy my mind, I penned this sequel to Winter's Threads. And like its precursor, the poem is less about Winter and more about the choices we make in life.

(With apologies to Robert Frost, who also wrote of choices, in a very similar format - and did it much, much better.)

This poem originally was published in Poems on Life

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Winter's Roads
by Ron Carnell
I cannot speak for all who stem
'Long roads less traveled as their way,
Nor question choices made by them
In days long past or nights long dim
by words they spoke and did not say.

Each road is long, though short it seems,
And credence gives each road a name
Of fantasies sun-drenched in beams
Or choices turned to darkened dreams,
To where each road wends just the same.

From North to South, then back again,
I followed birds like all the rest
Escaping nature's snowy den
On roads I've seen and places been,
Forsaking roads that traveled West.

This journey grows now to its end,
As road reflections lined in chrome
Give way to roads with greater bend
And empty signs that still pretend
They point the way to home sweet home.

But all roads lead to where we go
And where we go is where we've been,
So home is just a word we know,
That space in time most apropos
For where we want to be again.

For even home, it seems to me,
Is still a choice we all must face
From day to day and endlessly,
To choose if home is going to be
Another road - or just a place.
© 2000 Ron Carnell Please respect the rights of the author and Passions in Poetry. If you would like to use this poem on your own web page, please contact the Author. Thank you.
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48 Visitor Comments (from the Voting form)
  • barbara A
    Thank you for expressing the definition of "maturity" in verse with perfection.
  • kathryn
    Amazing poem!I love the way that it is written
  • laura
    This poem is very very beautiful. It touches me because of how true it is. It takes you on a journey that is a very simple explaination of life, but in the end letting you decide what your ultimate fate is going to be. I give it 10 out of 10 stars.
  • meg
    I agree with the comment under me, this poem is sentimental. It can only touch you if you know what's happening. This poem is about inner struggle looking for your true home when you yourself do not know where your home is. I have been throgh times like this when i myself donot know if my home is a home but this poem it gets you thinking about where is the true place you call home is your home considered a home! do you yourself feel at home? i think it is over all a great poem!
  • Wanda
    I thought it was a very beautiful poem.
  • josh
    all i have to say is wow. very well written. i like your ryhme scheme. i think i might submit this poem to my teacher for her classes to analyze. very well worded and versed.
  • Di
    I needed to find a poem for my e-mail list that could express what I could not find words for. Yours is the first poem I chose to look at and it became the only poem I could ever choose for my purpose as it is. perfect! (Robert Frost or no Robert Frost. ) Thank you :o) Di
  • masooma
    hmmmm. good poem
  • Tom
    Excellent poem. It rsonates that home can be just a stop along the way or the journey to a familiar place.
  • Nonie
    So reflective, profound and simply beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
  • JB
    This poem speaks to restless hearts. very thought-provoking!
  • Pali
    I've been lost half my life, (I'm still very young, little below 18 yrs) and so much has happened that i never knew where the whole "home" thing was. I Sit at my comp every now and then and I never get the feeling that I can ever connect with the internet in a more sentimental way. this poem has connected me to my "home". "Where we go is where we've been" is my favourite line because it makes me feel like these paths we take in life don't have to be the wrong paths necesserily, because we may have been there already. Thank you Ron.
  • Alexander
    Its ok but it shoulda ben a little longer. BUt not to the point where drug out. Overall a great poem.
  • chris
    it reminds me of the strugle so many people have in life not knowing where they are going, but feel they should be going somewhere,if they stand back and look some realise they were already there
  • Chanel
    I really love this poem. It think that you'll really love the Desiderata written by Max Ehrmann, check it out sometime.
  • fran
    This beautiful poem reminds me of one of my friends and her husband who chase the sunshine in a mobile home and then they find the road home again
  • natalie
    thts a boss poem dnt ya reken is ya think its crap omg its boss ago 13
  • Tea
    AWESOME. KEEP UP THE GOOD. [GOOD NAHH. GREAT WORK!
  • Adam
    Very cool, very true
  • adnan
    i dont have words to explain but its touch my heart feeling , tht great
  • Lorraine
    I really LOVED this poem. WELL DONE!
  • Daniel
    Good poem, I like the rhetorical feeling towards the end, and how the story is neatly brought to a close.
  • CHRIS
    VERY VERY TOUCHING
  • trisha
    very though provoking. exceptionally written. thank you.
  • De Shawn
    From poet to poet, Keep the drum beating an endless melody, Keep filling those hollow trees, Keep the sky a blistful blue gleamming through the trees, Keep creating an art of beauty, please.
  • Matt b.
    I liked the poem. it was pretty cool Anyway the poem rocked!
  • Ginny
    Ron it's a great poem! Thanks for puting it on the internet. Please write more poems about that kind of stuff. You're a excellent writer.
  • N
    GREAT! And sooooo true
  • Cheryl
    Ron You have chosen my favorite rhyme scheme, the five line verse. I feel it takes a bit more talent to rhyme 5 lines. Your subject,after reading your opening statements was well understood. I don't know if I would have understood the intent of "Winter" unless you had explained. But none the less, I felt you laid your heart on the page and I would like to thank you for allowing me to see it.
  • Jen
    Ron, your poem was beautifully written. It really makes people think about how the road they take or want to take is the one that will determine their future. I think with each different road we travel, each one becomes a separate stepping stone, that eventually leads to our ultimate destiny. Your poem was wonderful, and you have an amazing gift. God bless you.
  • ruth
    The feelings it inspired.
  • cris
    i recently graduated from high school and was voted to give the commencement speech at that time. as part of my speech i read "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. in your poem i found such an awesome similarity i was chilled. it brought to mind such a profound longing to back to high school and everything that i had known while at the same time giving me comfort in the solitude i am now faced with and courage to brave even the strongest storm. i wish i could have read your poem sooner as i would have loved to use it in my commencement speech (giving credit to you, of course. ) poems like these reaffirm my thought that no matter how far away i am from "home", it will always be in my mind and heart for home truly is where the heart is.
  • Jesse
    Your poems are very insightful as i am only 14 so i need to choose the road that i feel best and you really helped me
  • Sera
    hello being new here i can only share my reactions with you. as i began reading your poem, in the rhythm of it, i immediately felt as if i was travelling, moving along. the steps progress, choice after choice, there are open spaces and closed ones. i may not know the scenary, but i know the journey.
  • Yusra
    I like his poem. This poem is excellent.
  • Kay
    Great Poem
  • Diane
    I thought the poem very fitting.Especially since my name is Winters. We had a house fire 2 days before x-mas. Never knowing what road life will see us on,bein with the ones we love and family is truly where we feel at home.
  • Annette
    This poem is great. I can relate to this Poem. My friend has a motor home. He comes and goes and I can't go. Thank you for this great poem.
  • Sharon
    GOOD POEM!!
  • mm
    Excellent! Enjoyed.
  • Filip
    In this time of year and with an unrestfull heart, this poem really reflects my mind.
  • dshikha
    lovely poem though parts of it are abstruse and depend on the reader's interpretation
  • KIRSTY
    REALLY GOOD
  • Jonathan
    The first few lines reminded me of Frost's 'Road not taken' however it is not an Unoriginal poem. I quite liked the Structure, a little bit a varaince it refreshing :).
  • Ranea
    I just wanted to write a quick note and tell you that I thought your poem was wonderful. I live in good-ole snowy MI and I know what it is like to feel trapped by all that cold winter wind and snow. No apologies necessary to Robert Frost, for you did a very creative and heartfelt job and that is all that matters. Ranea (a former Navy Wife of a Desert Storm Veteran)
  • Mary
    This poem hit so directly to the heart of "Home" and what it really is, I was very touched by it.
  • Craig
    This is Beautiful and relates almost exactly to my life.
  • emerson
    I understaand.
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