What if the key to understanding yourself lies in the small, quiet choices you make? Szymborska’s “Possibilities” invites you to ponder the preferences that shape your soul.
Possibilities
Wislawa Szymborska
I prefer movies.
I prefer cats.
I prefer the oaks along the Warta.
I prefer Dickens to Dostoyevsky.
I prefer myself liking people
to myself loving mankind.
I prefer keeping a needle and thread on hand, just in case.
I prefer the color green.
I prefer not to maintain
that reason is to blame for everything.
I prefer exceptions.
I prefer to leave early.
I prefer talking to doctors about something else.
I prefer the old fine-lined illustrations.
I prefer the absurdity of writing poems
to the absurdity of not writing poems.
I prefer, where love’s concerned, nonspecific anniversaries
that can be celebrated every day.
I prefer moralists
who promise me nothing.
I prefer cunning kindness to the over-trustful kind.
I prefer the earth in civvies.
I prefer conquered to conquering countries.
I prefer having some reservations.
I prefer the hell of chaos to the hell of order.
I prefer Grimms’ fairy tales to the newspapers’ front pages.
I prefer leaves without flowers to flowers without leaves.
I prefer dogs with uncropped tails.
I prefer light eyes, since mine are dark.
I prefer desk drawers.
I prefer many things that I haven’t mentioned here
to many things I’ve also left unsaid.
I prefer zeroes on the loose
to those lined up behind a cipher.
I prefer the time of insects to the time of stars.
I prefer to knock on wood.
I prefer not to ask how much longer and when.
I prefer keeping in mind even the possibility
that existence has its own reason for being.
Reflection
Possibilities is a soft-spoken map of the human heart, where Szymborska lists the simple things she prefers—like cats over dogs, the shade over the sun, and the absurdities of writing poetry. Through these gentle admissions, we’re reminded that our smallest inclinations can speak volumes about who we are and how we move through the world. It invites us to embrace what we truly love, without apology, and see these choices as a quiet form of courage.
❓ Three Questions for Deeper Reflection
- Which of Szymborska’s preferences in Possibilities resonated most with you, and why?
- How do your own quiet likes and dislikes reveal parts of your identity you rarely express?
- Can you think of a time when honoring a small preference changed your perspective or brought you peace?