Page 38 - SpringBoard_ELA_Grade7_Flipbook

aCTIvITy 1.3
continued
AbouT The AuThor
Nikki Giovanni is a popular poet and professor of English. Over the years, she has won numerous writing awards. Her writing often focuses on individuals and their choices to make a difference.
poetry
My Notes
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 animals learns to cry
Unit 1 • The Choices We Make 11
parallel: side by side in a straight line
lateral: sideways
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