Response to Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise"

The poem I chose for this week is Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise." Maya Angelou is iconic. Her life and her work is inspirational and uplifting. "Still I Rise," is a poem about a woman who is unapologetic and who is unwilling to sell herself short for other people's benefit. Basically, the speaker is unstoppable. I like reading poetry that is motivational and positive, so this one was a good fit for me. Every time I read it, I am reminded that no one has to apologize for who they are or how they carry themselves. Sometimes it is easier for people to hide their inner beauty and strength because it is easier to get along with other people when they don't feel you are a threat; but Maya Angelou's speaker does not do this, and that is why I love this poem. Basically, haters will hate, and that is nobody's problem but their own. The similes with imagery of grandeur and greatness create a really positive outlook for both the speaker and whoever is reading. She carries herself as if she has diamonds between her legs, oil wells and goldmines everywhere, and a sense of pride and inner strength that comes from the misery of centuries past. Nothing can stand in the way of this women and her own happiness.

Here is the poem:

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.