as the baseball sage
once said
“when you come to
a fork in the road,
take it ”
and I’m taking it
and going
wherever it leads
me
life’s journey
there the road
there
the road
now walk
one way
or the other
because it bears a reposting: This Journey by Nazım Hikmet
We open doors,
close doors,
pass through doors,
and reach at the end of our only journey
no city,
no harbor—
the train derails,
the ship sinks
the plane crashes.
The map is drawn on ice.
But if I could
begin this journey all over again,
I would.
translated by Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk
On This Road by Ferit Edgü
The road’s asphalt
The sea so smooth
Soon, much too soon the day is done
The forest’s dry
Is the water ice
So that we
All of us, all of us have been deceived
The mountain’s steep
The road’s a threat
The sea so rough
How many how many how many
Have gone astray on these roads
translated by Jean Carpenter Efe
This Journey by Nazim Hikmet
We open doors,
close doors,
pass through doors,
and reach at the end of our only journey
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .no city,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .no harbor—
the train derails,
the ship sinks
the plane crashes.
The map is drawn on ice.
But if I could
. . . . .begin this journey all over again,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .I would.
Translated by Randy Blasing & Mutlu Konuk
a tanka by Ariwara No Narihara
Tsui ni yuku
Michi to wa kanete
Kikishi kado
Kino kyo to wa
Omowazarishi wo
I have always known
That at last I would
Take this road, but yesterday
I did not know that it would be today.
translated by Kenneth Rexroth
untitled poem by Antonio Machado
Traveler, your footprints
are the only road, nothing else.
Traveler, there is no road;
you make your own road as you walk.
As you walk, you make your own road,
and when you look back
you see the path
you will never travel again.
Traveler, there is no road;
only a ship’s wake on the sea.
translated by Mary G. Berg & Dennis Maloney
Leonard Durso 