Dilemma

Whatever we do, whether we light

strangers’ cigarettes—it may turn out

to be a detective wanting to know who is free

with a light on a lonely street nights—

or whether we turn away and get a knife

planted between our shoulders for our discourtesy;

whatever we do—whether we marry for love

and wake up to find love is a task,

or whether for convenience to find love

must be won over, or we are desperate—

whatever we do; save by dying,

and there too we are caught,

by being planted too close to our parents.

Source: Against the Evidence: Selected Poems 1934-1994 (Wesleyan University Press, 1993)