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Maya Angelou

Rising, Freedom, and Public Voice

Freedom, dignity, public occasion, refusal, survival, and poems built for communal uplift.
I know why the caged bird singsA free bird leaps on the back / Of the wind and floats downstream / Till the current ends and dips h
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Still I RiseYou may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies, / You may trod me in the very dir
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Phenomenal WomanPretty women wonder where my secret lies. / I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size / B
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The Rock Cries Out to Us TodayA Rock, A River, A Tree / Hosts to species long since departed, / Mark the mastodon. / The dinosaur,
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The LessonI keep on dying again. / Veins collapse, opening like the / Small fists of sleeping / Children. / Me
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Preacher, Don't Send MePreacher, don't send me / when I die / to some big ghetto / in the sky / where rats eat cats / of th
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Million Man March PoemThe night has been long, / The wound has been deep, / The pit has been dark, / And the walls have be
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Weekend GlorySome clichty folks / don't know the facts, / posin' and preenin' / and puttin' on acts, / stretchin'
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A ConceitGive me your hand / Make room for me / to lead and follow / you / beyond this rage of poetry. / Let
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AloneLying, thinking / Last night / How to find my soul a home / Where water is not thirsty / And bread l
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End of Rising, Freedom, and Public Voice

Phenomenal Woman

Keep readingMaya Angelou: Rising, Freedom, and Public Voice

by Maya Angelou

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 room Just as cool as you please, And to a man, The fellows stand or Fall 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 wondered What they see in me. They try so much But they can't touch My 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 understand Just why my head's not bowed. I don't shout or jump about Or have to talk real loud. When you see me passing It 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.
Written by
Maya Angelou
1928-2014 / Female / American
For You?
Written by
Maya Angelou
1928-2014 / Female / American
Time
4m
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