"Since the Majority of Me"  

By PHILIP LARKIN   

Since the majority of me 

Rejects the majority of you, 

Debating ends forthwith, and we

Divide. And sure of what to do 

We disinfect new blocks of days 

For our majorities to rent 

With unshared friends and unwalked ways. 

But silence too is eloquent: 

A silence of minorities 

That, unopposed at least, return 

Each night with cancelled promises 

They want renewed. They never learn.

Editor's Note: Students were asked to pair a painting with a poem with no explanation of the connection between the two.