Tandra
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 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.

Maya Angelou
5 Responses
  1. Anonymous Says:

    banange i thought the poem was by you. i thought i was getting a glimpse of another side of you.

    like the poem.


  2. eddsla Says:

    "That I dance like I've got diamonds
    At the meeting of my thighs"
    wow....i want to mine!

    may angelou uuh, don't you just love her poems?


  3. Unknown Says:

    Why do this to me? I read the first line and called Robert Thomson of The Times and asked him to check it out before he moves to New York Times. Just as I read the byline (horror) a txt from Robert comes in saying, "dn b stpd."


  4. Samantha Says:

    Funny, my inspiration emailed me this poem and I saw it this morning. It made my day.

    Tandra, I'm trying to find your email address so I can invite you to read my blog.


  5. Anonymous Says:

    [does /did my sassiness upset you]
    surprisingly no!!

    [i am a black ocean]
    i like that part!!

    tides...