The problem boils down to the poem being taught in high school when the average American teenager has yet to have made any independent choices, nor have they ev

The problem boils down to the poem being taught in high school when the average American teenager has yet to have made any independent choices, nor have they ever really had to live with the consequences of some decision made when they were a younger, different person. Most middle class kids live a very scripted lives, but are constantly hammered with the idea that soon they will be called upon to make their own decisions - usually characterized by a binary to continue the scripted path - college, corporate job, marriage in late twenties or thrities - or a second, riskier outlet into 'there be dragons' land. In this context, it's not surprising that the poem has become a concise stand-in and beautiful articulation of contemporary middle class social consensus. If I'm remembering this correctly, I came across this poem in the wake of a solo startup disaster. And I instantly got the second meaning without any need for literary deconstruction or critical nudging. I vividly remembered the excitement of the choice at the start. I now knew about how we tend to ponder what might have been. And could list many "founder success stories" told ages and ages hence of how I - I chose Angular2, and that has made all the difference. And that is genius of this poem, that it can (only?) be read differently by those with a certain amount of lived experience. It hides its meaning in plain sight and straight forward vocabulary (unlike Wasteland) and let's the reader insert himself and his entire life into this tiny vignette.