"Advice" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I must do as you do? Your own way I own 

Is a very good way. And still, 

There are sometimes two straight roads to a town, 

One over, one under the hill.

You are treading the safe and the well-worn way 

That the prudent choose each time; 

And you think me reckless and rash to-day 

Because I prefer to climb.

Your path is the right one, and so is mine. 

We are not like peas in a pod, 

Compelled to lie in a certain line, 

Or else be scattered abroad.

'Twere a dull old world, methinks, my friend, 

If we all went just one way; 

Yet our paths will meet no doubt at the end, 

Though they lead apart to-day.

You like the shade, and I like the sun; 

You like an even pace, 

I like to mix with the crowd and run, 

And then rest after the race.

I like danger, and storm and strife, 

You like a peaceful time; 

I like the passion and surge of life, 

You like its gentle rhyme,

You like buttercups, dewy sweet, 

And crocuses, framed in snow; 

I like roses, born of the heat, 

And the red carnation's glow.

I must live my life, not yours, my friend, 

For so it was written down; 

We must follow our given paths to the end-- 

But I trust we shall meet--in town.

source: https://www.ellawheelerwilcox.org/poems/padvice2.htm