I had promises to keep
but instead regarded Robert Frost,
who stopped his horse to watch the woods
fill up with snow.
I paused, too,
from time to time
while those around me
grew impatient
waiting for me to go again.
Harness bells jingled in my brain
reminding me that time was not my own.
I had promises to keep.
I kept as many as I could,
failed at some
but rarely stopped to watch the snow.
I stop more often now
as my journey shortens with age.
I make no promises
to anyone but me.
And I have promises to keep.
Source: Robert Frost, “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” from The Poetry of Robert Frost. Copyright 1923, © 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, Inc., renewed 1951, by Robert Frost.
Lovely poem. I like how the last line echoes the first line. The ending is open and the switch from past tense to present moves the reader in time towards the future. The middle line – I had promises to keep is a surprising turning point as we have already heard that line at the beginning and yet the repeat sets us up for the shift in the poem. Perhaps you will consider this poem for the anthology?