It’s so funny sometimes how life will throw you a bone.
Something, that as a writer, you can really sink your teeth
into-you know, a good piece of meat, like a filet
(perhaps a really big carrot for you veggies).
I was reading Giovanni the other day and I stumbled upon this piece.
Immediately I thought, yep, that’s it.
She’d managed to perfectly organize the ideas floating around in my head.
And I don’t know, it was just nice.
One of those moments where it’s nice to know someone
out there, sometimes thinks and feels the same way you do at
some point in their life. And that there’s this type of interconnectivity between us all.
I decided to post it, because well, I don’t want to forget that I love this poem.
Here it is:
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
©Nikki Giovanni, The Collected Poetry of Nikki Giovanni 1968-1998
I love the part where she writes, “always understanding
parallel movement
isn’t lateral”.
That’s the stuff poet’s dreams are made of my friends.
Have a great Friday.
Kim
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