Still I Rise – By Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou sadly passed away in 2014, it’s an honour to write about her, she is an American Poet, Memoirist, Singer, Teacher and Civil Rights Activist, she was also an acclaimed and Best Selling Author with recognition on a global scale, Maya Angelou has written three Books, Essays, Beautiful Poetry Novels, and seven Autobiographies that cover her childhood and early adult life experiences, told in a very poignant and articulate manner, as she expressed her emotions like a graceful and timeless work of art. – “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” is a classic and masterpiece, also Still I Rise which I will add here:

Related article: Unique Vibes Highlights / A Tribute: American Poet, Memoirist + Singer Maya Angelou

Still I Rise – 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 backyard.

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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