What lies down that forgotten alley? You have to look to even find any sign of it. Which is odd because the neighborhood is striped with them. This one, though, all but disappeared. The ruts are only slightly worn and the arch of trees has embraced the claim closely. It’s no not and orderly, as it likely was decades ago.

Now it casts a measly path between life-worn houses in the city center. No cart or car perpetuate its grass-bare lines. No truck delivers coal or collects trash.

A photo, cropped well, might fool its viewer into believe she’s looking down Frost’s untrod road. The under- and over-growth transport this alley out of the grid of street and boulevard. The neighboring open lot appears to be a wild meadow. Only the lone, unattached concrete stairs belie the alley’s true origins.