Para's Preferred Poetry 3

I'm feeling a little bit sad because someone's ever so slightly upset me, probably unintentionally - but nonetheless, it's made me feel a bit sad.

So am gonna type out one of my fave poems to make me feel better. I used to read this when I was off work last year - it gives me some strength. I have it pinned up on my desk as well at work.

Normally I prefer short, funny poems - mainly because I've not got the patience to read a long one. But the defiance in this poem really does inspire me.

It's by Maya Angelou. I read her first autobiography I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings when I was studying Women's Studies a couple of years ago. I really must get round to reading her other books as she is a remarkable woman.

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 sins,
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 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.

For more info on Maya Angelou, visit http://www.mayaangelou.com/

Para xxx

PS - if you're wondering why there's a verse in bold, it's because I particularly like that verse - helped me with the Jem situation as I think her jealousy was the root of my problems.