I do not fear death;
I do not mean to be noble nor proud.
I simply do not dread being harvested from the soil that has unearthed me.

I have lived enough life for a lifetime.
My petals have been carefully picked
and carelessly played with;
they have wilted in woe
and blossomed again in spring.

I have travelled enough earth for a universe.
My roots have spread through fertile soil
and suffered the depths of barren land;
they have absorbed the kindness of the sun
and survived the wickedness of the rain.

I have bloomed enough beauty for a book.
My leaves have flourished in warm summers
and shrivelled in treacherous winters;
they have sprouted in spite of harsh winds
and bled the cuts of sharp knives.

I do not fear death;
I rejoice in its coming.
I await the day I am stripped
from the desolate ground
I have stood tiredly upon.

For then,
all the life and the earth and the beauty
that my petals and my roots and my leaves
have endured
can rest peacefully at last,
and lay tightly pressed
between two pages.

you told me, of all
the stars in the galaxy
i was the brightest

i only believed you when
i was the first to explode

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 **** 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.