And Still I Rise

by Dr Maya Angelou

Then you rose into my life Like a promised sunrise. Brightening my days with the light in your eyes. I’ve never been so strong, Now I’m where I belong.

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But when I start to tell them, They think I’m telling lies. I say, It’s in the reach of my arms, The span of my hips, The stride of my step, The curl of my lips. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. I walk into a room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall down on their knees. Then they swarm around me, A hive of honey bees. I say, It’s the fire in my eyes,

And the flash of my teeth, The swing in my waist, And the joy in my feet. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Men themselves have wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can’t touch My inner mystery. When I try to show them They say they still can’t see. I say, It’s in the arch of my back, The sun of my smile, The ride of my breasts, The grace of my style. I’m a woman Phenomenally. Phenomenal woman, That’s me. Now you understand Just why my head’s not bowed. I don’t shout or jump about

Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It ought to make you proud. I say, It’s in the click of my heels, The bend of my hair, the palm of my hand, The need for my care. ’Cause I’...

Beloved, In what other lives or lands Have I known your lips Your hands Your laughter brave Irreverent. Those sweet excesses that I do adore. What surety is there That we will meet again, On other worlds some Future time undated. I defy my body’s haste. Without the Promise Of one more sweet encounter I will not deign to die.

Oh how you used to walk With that insouciant smile I liked to hear you talk And your style Pleased me for a while. You were my early love New as a day breaking in Spring You were the image of Everything That caused me to sing. I don’t like reminiscing Nostalgia is not my forté I don’t spill tears On yesterday’s years But honesty makes me say, You were a precious pearl How I loved to see you shine, You were the perfect girl. And you were mine. For a time.

For a time. Just for a time.

I keep on dying again. Veins collapse, opening like the Small fists of sleeping Children. Memory of old tombs, Rotting flesh and worms do Not convince me against The challenge. The years And cold defeat live deep in Lines along my face They dull my eyes, yet I keep on dying, Because I love to live.

adobe

paled to umber,

Used to the gelid breath Of old manors, glare disdainfully Over breached time.

Cold phantasmatalities,

the languid air, Activity, music, A generosity of graces.

Fulminant, exploding brightly

Audaciou Sunlight casts defiance At their feet.

I was born to work up to my grave But I was not born To be a slave.

They were born to work up to their graves But they were not born To be worked-out slaves.

They were born to work up to their graves But they were not born To be worked-out slaves.

And now I’ll tell you my Golden Rule, I was born to work but I ain’t no mule. I was born to work up to my grave But I was not born To be a slave.

You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springi...

Did you want to see me broken? Bowed head and lowered eyes? Shoulders falling down like teardrops, ...

Does my haughtiness o...

Don’t you take it awful hard ’Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines Diggi...

You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, B...

Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise That I dance like I’ve got diamonds A...

Out of the huts of history’s shame I rise Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, Well...

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I ...

I rise I rise...

Wrappin’ up in Blackness Don’t I shine and glow? Hearin’ Stevie Wonder Cookin’ beans and rice Goin’ to the opera Checkin’ out Leontyne Price. Get down, Jesse Jackson Dance on, Alvin Ailey Talk, Miss Barbara Jordan Groove, Miss Pearlie Bailey. Now ain’t they bad?

An’ ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they Bad? An’ ain’t they bad? An’ ain’t they Black? An’ ain’t they fine? Black like the hour of the night When your love turns and wriggles close to your side Black as the earth which has given birth To nations, and when all else is gone will abide. Bad as the storm that leaps raging from the heavens Bringing the welcome rain Bad as the sun burning orange hot at midday Lifting the waters again. Arthur Ashe on the tennis court Mohammed Ali in the ring André Watts and Andrew Young Black men doing their thing. Dressing in purples and pinks and greens Exotic as rum and Cokes

Ain’t we colorful folks?

Now ain’t we bad? An’ ain’t we Black? An’ ain’t we Black?

An’ ain’t we bad? An’ ain’t we bad? An’ ain’t we Black?’ ...

Shadows on the wall Noises down the hall Life doesn’t frighten me at all Bad dogs barking loud Big ghosts in a cloud Life doesn’t frighten me at all. Mean old Mother Goose Lions on the loose They don’t frighten me at all Dragons breathing flame On my counterpane That doesn’t frighten me at all. I go boo Make them shoo I make fun Way they run I won’t cry So they fly I just smile They go wild

Life doesn’t frighten me at all. Tough guys in a fight All alone at night Life doesn’t frighten me at all. Panthers in the park Strangers in the dark No, they don’t frighten me at all. That new classroom where Boys all pull my hair (Kissy little girls With their hair in curls) They don’t frighten me at all. Don’t show me frogs and snakes And listen for my scream, If I’m afraid at all It’s only in my dreams. I’ve got a magic charm That I keep up my sleeve, I can walk the ocean floor And never have to breathe. Life doesn’t frighten me at all

Not at all Not at all. Life doesn’t frigh...

When you see me sitting quietly, Like a sack left on the shelf, Don’t think I need your chattering. I’m listening to myself. Hold! Stop! Don’t pity me! Hold! Stop your sympathy! Understanding if you got it, Otherwise I’ll do without it! When my bones are stiff and aching And my feet won’t climb the stair, I will only ask one favor: Don’t bring me no rocking chair. When you see me walking, stumbling, Don’t study and get it wrong. ’Cause tired don’t mean lazy And every goodbye ain’t gone. I’m the same person I was back then, A little less hair, a little less chin, A lot less lungs and much less wind. But ain’t I lucky I can still breathe in.

My Lord, My Lord, Long have I cried out to Thee In the heat of the sun, The cool of the moon, My screams searched the heavens for Thee. My God When my blanket was nothing but dew, Rags and bones Were all I owned. I chanted Your name Just like Job. Father, Father, My life give I gladly to Thee Deep rivers ahead High mountains above My soul wants only Your love But fears gather round like wolves in the dark Have You forgotten my name? Oh, Lord, come to Your child. Oh, Lord, forget me not.

You said to lean on Your arm And I’m leaning You said to trust in Your love And I’m trusting You said to call on Your name And I’m calling I’m stepping out on Your word. You said You’d be my protection, My only and glorious saviour My beautiful Rose of Sharon, And I’m stepping out on Your word. Joy, joy Your word. Joy, joy The wonderful word of the Son of God. You said that You would take me to glory To sit down at the welcome table Rejoice with my mother in heaven And I’m stepping out on Your word. Into the alleys Into the byways Into the streets And the roads

And the highways Past rumor mongers And midnight ramblers Past the liars and the cheaters and the gamblers On Your word On Your word. On the wonderful word of t...

Ships? Sure I’ll sail them. Show me the boat, If it’ll float, I’ll sail it. Men? Yes I’ll love them. If they’ve got the style, To make me smile, I’ll love them. Life? ’Course I’ll live it. Let me have breath, Just to my death, And I’ll live it. Failure? I’m not ashamed to tell it, I never learned to spell it. Not Failure.

see You Brown-skinned, Neat Afro, Full lips, A little goatee. A Malcolm, Martin, Du Bois. Sunday services become sweeter when you’re Black, Then I don’t have to explain why I was out balling the town down, Saturday night. Thank you, Lord. I want to thank You, Lord For life and all that’s in it. Thank You for the day And for the hour and for the minute. I know many are gone, I’m still living on, I want to thank You.

I went to sleep last night And I arose with the dawn, I know that there are others Who’re still sleeping on, They’ve gone away, You’ve let me stay. I want to thank You. Some thought because they’d seen sunrise They’d see it rise again. But death crept into their sleeping beds And took them by the hand. Because of Your mercy, I have another day to live. Let me humbly say, Thank You for this day I want to thank You. I was once a sinner man, Living unsaved and wild, Taking my chances in a dangerous world, Putting my soul on trial. Because of Your mercy, Falling down on me like rain, Because of Your mercy,

When I die I’ll live again, Let me humbly say, Thank You for this day...

I met a Lady Poet who took for inspiration colored birds, and whispered words a lover’s hesitation. A falling leaf could stir her. A wilting, dying rose would make her write, both day and night, the most rewarding prose. She’d find a hidden meaning in every pair of pants, then hurry home to be alone and write about romance.

A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky. But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill

for the caged bird sings of freedom. The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn and he names the sky his own. But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing. The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.

The tacit fact is: the awful fear of losing is not enough to cause a fleeing love to stay.