Even When There's Little Choice, We Choose

Music: Fugue in F# Major By Dimitri Shostakovich. Sequenced by J. Marques.

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Hear me read the poem: As a .wav file As an MP3 file Alpha List Poems for Other Holidays Political Poems  Contents Home Copyright by Nicholas Gordon

Even when there’s little choice, we choose, Lest we lose the habit of our duty. Ever tempted to the rite refuse, Come the day, we recognize its beauty. There is no greater dignity than this: In each an equal sense of sovereignty, Ownership not easy to dismiss, Nothing less than what makes people free. Do, then, exercise this sovereign right As though it could be lost, as well it might, Yielding in small steps that few can see.