Choose
peace
power
free verse
austere
THE single clenched fist lifted and ready, Or the open asking hand held out and waiting. Choose: For we meet by one or the other.
Choose - context Summary
Published in 1920
A terse, didactic poem that presents a stark binary: a clenched fist versus an open, asking hand. Sandburg issues the imperative "Choose," making the reader responsible for the stance that will determine how people meet one another. The lines compress social and moral choice into a single moment, asking whether interactions will be confrontational or receptive. It was published in the 1920 collection Smoke and Steel.
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