Nikki Giovanni

Nikki Giovanni,an African-American poet & civil rights promoter, was born on this day, that is, June 7 in the year 1943. she was a student of the all-black Fisk University. Later she was actively involved in the Black Arts movement under which African-American intellectuals wrote radical poetry aimed at creating awareness for the rights of the blacks. She is currently teaching English at the Virginia Tech, where she is the University Distinguished Professor.
I am posting one of her poems here.


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
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



P.S. Tell me what you think of this poem. Make an attempt to interpret it from your point of view.