Why does Ross Gay title his poem "A Small Needful Fact"?

Question

to answer this, first figure out what the "fact" is, and how it might be helpful or even comforting? Note: there is really only one solid fact presented here, the rest is just guessing or hoping (as indicated by the language used).

Answer 1

Ross Gay’s poem “A Small Needful Fact” opens with the fact that Eric Garner worked in the “Parks and Rec. Horticultural Department.” What follows this fact is a series of speculations, each of which is preceded by conjectural words such as “perhaps,” “most likely,” and “like,” but all of which lead to the poignant conclusion that Eric Garner “likely” tended to plants that provide both food and pleasure, and that “make it easier to breathe,” a phrase that resonates with both cultural significance and bitter irony when we consider the horrific “facts” surrounding the death of Eric Garner. But beyond the sad truth of this reality, Ross Gay’s poem subtly reminds us of the “small needful fact” of who Garner was as a living person, which makes the savage manner of his death all the more troubling.