This site is devoted to the prayers, hymns and stutis of divine Gods & Goddesses, to the learnings from great saints and stories from religious books.
In this post, I have recited a famous poem by the much-acclaimed African-American poetess, Maya Angelou. Her life, her grit and never-say-die attitude in the face of adversity has always inspired me. Despite her lack of college education, she was called ‘Dr.Angelou’ because of her profound innate wisdom and knowledge. Her autobiography – I know why the caged bird sings – is world famous and is taught as a text book in the US universities. She passed away in 2014 but through her legacy of words, continues to inspire millions till date.
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 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.
I love reading and writing poetry. For me, poetry is an expression of The Higher Creative Force of the universe, a song of the soul. It is an immediate release of the pent up energy within us. Poetry elevates and lightens up the heart.
Resources:
- Maya Angelou – https://www.britannica.com/biography/Maya-Angelou
- Still I rise – https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise
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