Maya Angelou is probably my favorite poet of all time, and her famous poem entitled Still I Rise may very well be my favorite poem by Maya Angelou, over and above all other poems. The Do It Anyway poem posted the other day is another one of my favorites, probably because poems like Still I Rise and Do It Anyway express in words and tone my way of thinking and feeling about life and adversities that don’t include the more “colorful language” that would inevitably rise up out of my mouth in certain situations.
For example, Grandpa forwarded an email video clip of a song entitled “I’m About to Whip Somebody’s Ass” to me a few days ago, and after listening to the little song clip and viewing the cartoon character singing the little ditty, we shared a good laugh together simply because of the comical and oh-so colorful song title. Too funny. The song is on Youtube if you’re interested.
Anyway, Maya Angelou’s poem Still I Rise carries a lot of meaning, as does every other poem written by Maya. I have a bookmark that includes Maya’s Still I Rise poem as an inspirational reminder that no matter how toxic some people in our lives may be and their pathetic attempts to bring us down with their b.s., we just need to keep doing the good we’re doing for ourselves and others, and rise above the ass-wipes nonsense. Oops, there’s that colorful language I was referring to.
Still I Rise
by Maya Angelou
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 springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
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,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
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 am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
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[...] very popular poem entitled A Woman Should Have has been attributed to Maya Angelou as author for a very long time as “Maya Angelou’s Best Poem Ever”, but as much as [...]