Choose

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.