Carl Sandburg cuts straight to a choice everyone faces in how they approach another person. One option is the clenched fist—already lifted, ready for a fight. The other is the open hand, extended not to strike but to ask, wait, or receive. The image is simple, but it carries a lot: confrontation versus trust, aggression versus vulnerability.
The speaker’s tone is urgent and direct, almost like a command: Choose. There is no third way offered, because every encounter, Sandburg suggests, begins with one of these two gestures. The mood is tense and serious, but not hopeless—it forces you to notice what your own posture says before any words are spoken. The decision is left squarely with the reader.