Have you ever felt this,
That you know someone
Without really knowing them.

That you hold someone,
Without really  holding  them.

That you see someone,
Without really seeing them.

That you hear someone,
Without really hearing them.

That you feel someone,
Without them being close enough.

That you call out to them,
And their soul whispers back!

I am wonderful,
Yes I am,
Need no longer for someone to tell me so,
Put me in narrow confines on what wonderful ought to be.
I define my wonder to the full.

May I continue to rise and soar,
Not be apologetic for doing so  anymore,
When the chips are down,
When people around further beat me down,
I let that  courage surge,
Propel me to fly through,
Emerge stronger coz I am strong and wonderful
And I define my wonder to the full.

I can do anything I set my heart to do,
There’s nothing I can’t and I don’t hear voices that say so anymore,
I am a woman, and I am every woman,
Infinite in my being, resolute in my doing!
I am wonderful and I define my wonder to the full.

I took a moment of fancy to you,
And pray why did I do so?
Was it the curl of your lip,
Or the drawl in your tone
Or just the way your eyes
Met and held mine across the room.

You moved away and around
And so did I,
Heightened senses,
Aware and on the prowl.

A game that’s played on
Almost forever,
A lilt in my voice
A bounce in my step,
An interesting interlude,
For a moment or two.

You waltzed across the room,
Meeting many,
Caught you from the corner of my eye,
Seeking me.

The moment of reckoning,
When we were just a breath away,
I smiled and lowered my lashes,
A deep breath, and walked away,
Is it you or is it me?

Oops! I smell coffee,
Good morning love,
had an interesting interlude,
Guess what! It was you!

I wrote this on the plane,
With Julie London crooning in my ears,
The light of the lamp above on my face,
My feet propped against the panel front.

I wrote this on the plane,
Thinking of the clouds passing by,
In the depth of the night,
Like batman on the prowl.

I wrote this on the plane,
The front seats were free,
And so was I,
In the still  of the night.

I wrote this on the plane,
Way past everyone’s bedtime,
The ecstasy of the lilting tones,
The thrill of the shadows around and within me.

I wrote this on the plane,
Just feeling alls right with the world,
Just in that moment,
I could dream and feel closer to you.

Yes I could, Yes I am,
Stars fill the sky,  
And thoughts of us fill my moments too,
I feel joy,
So I wrote this on the plane.

And a woman who held a babe against her ***** said, "Speak to us of
Children."

And he said:

Your children are not your children.

They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.

They come through you but not from you,

And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts.

For they have their own thoughts.

You may house their bodies but not their souls,

For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit,
not even in your dreams.

You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.

For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.

The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you
with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.

Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;

For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that
is stable.

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.