The Distance Traveled (Response to Robert Frost's "The Road Less Traveled"

I am a turtle. That's true.
I am still green and I've lived so long.
Slowly, I move through the grass with muddy feet and a determined gait.

I took the "road less traveled".
The distance was not so obvious.
The result is who I have become.

And, though I may be thought different...
I prefer this path
Of not fitting in with the crowd.

I have this tough, rectangular-patterned shell that helps me camaflouge my appearance.
Its tough surface serves as a home
So, I can walk and not worry when or where to rest my weary head.

I keep going though it may be imperceptible to the eye.
My tai chi pace is deadly.
The strength it takes is not noticeable to many.

A rat race?
I enter and stay steady.
I am not striving to win.

And after years of movement...
The amount of ground covered may seem so small to some.
And yet if I fall, I will be able to recover. Will the rat?

So, run if this is your way.
Speed may seem a need.
I have found it's not the pace, but the deed.
For I know the distance traveled
And it has made all the difference.