The Aisle Not Taken

 (With apologies to Robert Frost)

 

Two aisles diverged in a grocery store.

And sorry I could not travel both

And being one shopper, long I stood,

And looked down Aisle 1 as far as I could

To cookies, chocolates, candies and more.

 

Then took the other, as just as good

And perhaps the better for my health;

With low-calorie foods on the shelf,

And no sugar laden goodies anywhere,

So I'll look better in underwear.

 

And yet both aisles that morning lay

In front of me and my cart.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Knowing I would be tempted back

To all those sweet things, stack after stack.

 

I shall be telling this with a (heavy) sigh

Somewhere pounds and pounds hence:

Two aisles diverged in a grocery store, and I,

I once took the one better for my thigh,

Not that it ultimately made any difference.

Karen Poppy, "The Slowdown," August 5, 2020