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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
| Submitted Date |
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Friday, January 03, 2003 |
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Read poems about / on: history, dance, ocean, dream, fear, hope, pain, rose, spring
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Comments about this poem (Still I Rise
by
Maya Angelou
) |
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Manonton Dalan (2/2/2012 8:14:00 PM)
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i wish everybody has that confidence; that would be great.
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Victoria Mbali (1/30/2012 12:00:00 PM)
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i love it, for me it has a very deep meaning, i'll keep reading more of your work, i love it, motivational
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Shay Pugh (1/30/2012 11:49:00 AM)
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This is a great poem! !
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Ghina Albiek (1/26/2012 6:05:00 PM)
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Amazing poem :) meaningful words............
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Gad Ashther (1/24/2012 8:12:00 AM)
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It is Quite inspiring :) Great Work ^^
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Afolabi Boluwatife Emerald (1/17/2012 12:47:00 AM)
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Waoh...I'm not gonna let my past or where I am from limit me....and just like the helium balloon....I will rise....and soar....check out my poems too....http: //www.poemhunter.com/poem/white-masquerades/
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Jeline Loh Jen-Li (1/13/2012 3:09:00 AM)
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Awesome one there!
Do check out my poems as well!
Just as I am aimless,
You gave me assurance.
Just as I am barren,
You gave me bountifully.
Just as I am clueless,
You gave me certainty.
Just as I am desperate,
You gave me determination.
Just as I am empty,
You gave me empowerment.
Just as I am fearful,
You gave me a future.
Just as I am gentle,
You gave me greatness.
Just as I am hopeless,
You gave me hope.
Just as I am insecure,
You gave me importance.
Just as I am Jeline Loh,
You gave me Jesus Christ.
Jeremiah29: 11
Copyrighted @ Jeline Loh
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Annette Thompson (1/11/2012 8:26:00 PM)
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The ocean may be deep and it may wide and beyond so many yonders but it is and always be there. It sends fear and feels fear deep in its swirls but beyond those crashing waves is a shining ocean still and it cannot stand still and as the Sun shines and Moon controls just as time stands still with the Moon and Sun in place the tides and the ocean freezes its swirls.
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