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In 2016 I had one reading goal - to read a book of poetry. "The Road Not Taken and Other Poems" by Robert Frost was the book on the shelf in the small poetry section at my local bookshop that appealed to me most, so that was what I chose. I wanted a collection of poetry from a single poet, one not too daunting so that I could read it slowly and enjoy it.

This collection begins with poems that affirm that life is good. There is a yearning celebration of relationships, of having a place where one belongs. However, that shifts towards the end to a sharper, more challenging acceptance that life is difficult. Our hopes don't eventuate. Violence and fear are real.

I was interested how well some of the poems stand up decades on. There is something daring and encouraging in the bleakness of "The Bonfire". Still something to rue, today - sadly. How do we prepare children for a world at war? These lines at the end:

Haven't you heard what we have lived to learn?
Nothing so new--something we had forgotten:
WAR IS FOR EVERYONE, FOR CHILDREN TOO [in italics in the poem, I've capitalised since I can't work out italics coding]
I wasn't going to tell you and I mustn't.
The best way is to come up hill with me
And have our fire and laugh and be afraid."