You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.
Wonderful tribute. Thank you.
R.I.P. Maya Angelou
Wow. What an absolutely amazing poem, and such a beautiful tribute to Maya Angelou. Thank you so much for sharing this. Love and light.
Oops. Absent-minded me. It is, of course, a poem by the amazing woman herself. Thank you. 🙂
Reblogged this on All Roads Lead To Now and commented:
Such a beautiful and vital poem by Maya Angelou. Rest in glory, bright shining light.
What a beautiful, beautiful poem! Thank you for sharing it.
The world has lost an inspiring woman in Maya Angelou – may she rest in peace.
Great minds. Just saw the same passage on another blog and was on my way to posting an excerpt. Never enough of Maya. RIP.
❤
Beautiful lady, great writer 🙂
A writer I still need to rediscover. An amazing woman.