Poem Of The Day

Still I Rise

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 clearI rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise I rise I rise.

By: Maya Angelou

Poem Of The Day

Phenomenal Woman


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 roomJust as cool as you please,
And to a man, The fellows stand orFall 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 wonderedWhat they see in me.
They try so muchBut they can't touchMy 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 understandJust why my head's not bowed.I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passingIt 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 of my care,
'Cause I'm a woman,Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou