I know you cannot go
Through life
Unless you are willing
For love or money
To make a fool
Of yourself

Where else does the ecstasy
lie

—From “Deal or No Deal” by Nikki Giovanni in BICYCLES: Love Poems (William Morrow, 2009)

[The poem is dedicated to one of Nikki Giovanni's classes, inspired by the time she told the students she'd like to go on Deal or No Deal. Their response: that she'd embarrass herself.]