Poetry of Eli Siegel
Necessity and Choice Always Prevail
He could have picked up
What he called the water-stopper
There in the white sink
Either by the little ring
Higher than the rest of the water-stopper;
Or by the round part in rubber,
Lower than the ring.
This he would do by
Applying thumb and third finger
Courageously, firmly and simultaneously
To the rubber in roundness of the water-stopper.
There is a choice about how to lift a water-stopper of this kind.
There is choice in the world.
II
However, if the ring has gone from the rubber of the water-stopper,
And you lift the water-stopper for some reason,
With ring gone—
You want to lift it perhaps, even, to throw it away,
There is no choice.
You have to lift it by the roundness in rubber.
III
Necessity then prevails.
Necessity and choice always prevail.
From Hail, American Development (Definition Press)
© 1967 by Eli Siegel