I have decided to, gradually, go through a list of my favourite things. Not like the song, not exactly.

I am starting with my favourite poem. I mean, picking a favourite is always very difficult. It can change with the years and seasons, but this is a poem that always seems to stick with me.

It is a very well-known poem called ‘Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening’ by Robert Frost.

The words can be taken for their surface meaning, for a nice walk through the woods, but it can also be interpreted to mean something much more profound. I like the depths of the poem. I like that it is complex in its very simplicity.

It touches on depression, a theme many can understand. Robert Frost suffered through depression most of his life, and he was surrounded by loss and grief. The words that particularly resonated me were as follows:

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep, But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep…”

The words indicate a possible path, a path down a dark road, an end to things. Then there is a choice to stay, tempting though that darkness is. It really shows the darkness we all have within us, that pull toward the metaphorical woods.

I suppose I enjoy the poem because of the simple flowing of words, the imagery of the “frozen lake”, and of “easy wind and downy flake.” It sort of sends a shiver through you, gives you a sense of the cold, brooding woods and the immense isolation.

It is with words like these that I remind myself there is a path for everyone. We all have our promises to keep, and we all hold our destiny in our hands.

It is by writers like Robert Frost that I am inspired, not only in my writing but also in my life. For we all have our demons, and only we can fight them.