Preface

Too many readers, writers, and speakers miss the point when they refer to the “road not taken.” Robert Frost was a true examiner of life. I believe he was referring to a way of life, rather than to a path, or even to a set of choices. He understood what Socrates meant when he taught us that “the unexamined life is not worth living.”

I once visited Frost’s childhood home. It was off the beaten path, with very few conveniences, that included a simple “one-seater” outhouse. I was the only visitor that day, and for the past month. The caretaker gave me the freedom to explore the grounds. I took a pee behind the outhouse. Who remembers JFK’s inaugural back in 1961? Frost read some of his poetry there. The sun was too bright, the wind was blowing, and his papers were flying. But he carried on in good humor. He liked this daring new president that liked him. When he looked at a wall, he did not study its construction, or how long it might stand. He wondered whether it was there to keep them in or him out.

And so it is with mavericks. We like to take chances and make choices. A bad choice of our own doing is better than letting others make it for us. Our thinking goes something like this: “I can choose it, own it, or divorce it. I like my choices and my odds better than yours.” Unfortunately, we are mostly on the losing side--not because we are stupid, but because we are not.

With that said, here is my tribute to us, the mavericks, out on the lonely road to “who knows where?”

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The Maverick

We walk with a very uncertain keel
Most likely to step on a banana peel
And bust our butts falling down the hill
Taking full blame, it’s in our will.

The road less traveled is the one to try
If you haven’t tried it, it’s time to try
It changes its hue at every turn
If there’s heat ahead, we let it burn.

We stop to smell the coffee
Even brew a pot
We drink it cold we drink it hot
We dance when there’s music
Or when there’s not.

We don’t compete we have no need
We never follow we always lead
We’re the last to stand and the first to fall
From an arrow in our backs shot from that wall.

Nobody wants us we’ve got too much brass
Out of sync with the broom up somebody’s ass
They want our talent for a penny on the dollar
They want all the credit like a 10 o’clock scholar.

If we’re so smart why aren’t we rich
Chasing the dollar like a son-of-a-bitch?
Good answer, sir, now please go away
Come back again with something to say.

We don’t burn bridges there’s always hope
They’ll find a cure for a rope-a-dope
Don’t look now but your knuckles are draggin’
Get off your high horse and onto our wagon.

We’re on our way to who knows where
And all points in between
Life’s all in the hunt of living
From scene to unknown scene.

Don’t sigh for us don’t cry for us
And definitely don’t say goodbye to us
We uncover every stone before we talk
We’ve got the game and we’ve got the walk.