choices

i went to the library yesterday and was completely exhilarated by my proximity to all this literature which is so limited and so far away from me in saigon. particularly, the poetry -- shelves and shelves of poems and poets huddling closely to one another. i reverted back to some old favorites (sonia sanchez, nikki g) and some new ones (derek walcott). here, a poem from nikki, who means so much to me.

Choices

by Nikki Giovanni

if i can't do
what i want to do
then my job is to not
do what i don't want
to do

it's not the same thing
but it's the best i can
do

if i can't have
what i want then
my job is to want
what i've got
and be satisfied
that at least there
is something more
to want

since i can't go
where i need
to go then i
must go
where the signs point
though always understanding
parallel movement
isn't lateral

when i can't express
what i really feel
i practice feeling
what i can express
and none of it is equal
i know
but that's why mankind
alone among the mammals
learns to cry