Poetry Pairs: Robert Frost’s ‘Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening’ and loud car noises

Over at Poetry for Life, we are beginning a series on poetry pairs. This week we pair Robert Frost’s “Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening” with loud car noises, because that’s my association with that poem.

Rereading this poem — which I first encountered in elementary school — got me to thinking about a conversation about pets I recently had with a young friend who is in fifth grade.

Pet Affairs

We all know it’s the cat who cheats
on her partner. who accepts no leash, no collar,
no contract, no covenant. You’re lucky
I’m still here, she says. She wants you to know
she can leave
whenever she pleases.

But the dog,

who needs no leash, no collar,
no contract, no covenant to bind her
to her partner,
even she
can walk out a door cracked open.
She can. She will.

–Megan Willome

“Megan Willome has captured the essence of crow in this delightful children’s collection. Not only do the poems introduce the reader to the unusual habits and nature of this bird, but also different forms of poetry as well.”

—Michelle Ortega, poet and children’s speech pathologist