Poetry Thursday: Choices by Nikki Giovanni

This week's optional prompt was to pick snatches of conversation out of the air and turn them into a poem. The problem with that is I would have to take off my headphones and actually listen to people. The only way I get through my days is by drowning them out :-). Instead of following the prompt, I decided to share a poem that fits how I wander through my days sometimes.

CHOICES

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

--Nikki Giovanni