I have come to the borders of sleep,
The unfathomable deep
Forest where all must lose
Their way, however straight,
Or winding, soon or late;
They cannot choose.
Many a road and track
That, since the dawn's first crack,
Up to the forest brink,
They “cannot choose” is a statement of inevitability. At this stage the speaker, initially using the pronoun “I” doesn’t seem to identify with the third person plural “They”.
Lights Out