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
through 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 animals
learns to cry

“Look at Me” by Peg Hoddinott

Look at me. Please, see me.

Not my clothes or stubby nails

Or homely face.

Open your heart so you can see mine.

I do not ask you to agree with

Or understand all you see

For I don’t even do that.

Just look at what is really there

And allow it to be.