In the poem "Directions", Billy Collins uses a hike through nature as an extended metaphor to describe the journey of life. The parental figure in the poem describes how the child is familiar with “the brick path in back of the house”. This child can envision the path from the comfort of his “kitchen window", but does not truly recognize how dangerous that journey is. The speaker is trying to prepare him for the dangers "if [he] leaves the path", and makes his own choices. While encountering "a heap of rocks" that existed "during the horrors of the Ice Age" would seem frightening, everyone in life has to struggle with these challenges. These obstacles have endured since the dawn of time, and will continue to exist forever. At some point, he may …show more content…
Eventually, the child will reach his full potential upon a "long stone ridge" which will be "as high as [they] can go". The uphill climb described in the poem represents the struggle in life to succeed. Once the child gets past this first stage of life, though, "the best time is late afternoon", or adulthood. At this point he will notice the "light pouring down into the woods", and the clarity that comes with maturity. Before, the woods seemed horrifying and perilous, representing the unknown. Now the light “strobes through the columns of trees" while it "breaks into the shapes and tones of things". At this point, the child has reached “late afternoon”, or adulthood, and may reminisce upon old memories with the wisdom that accompanies old age. The parent finds it challenging, instead, to "speak of these things" and explain them to someone who has not experienced it yet. It is nigh impossible to comprehend how the "entities… continue to return greener than ever", and how the earth will keep spinning once they are gone. It is the speaker's hope to help the child through most of it, walking "with [them] as far as the