I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

I just went looking for a copy of Maya Angelou's beautiful but sad poem "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings". I found it, but underneath was another of Maya's beautiful poems entitled "Still I Stand":

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.

I had the honour of being in the Oprah audience when Maya Angelou was a guest and what an amazing woman she is! I remember they interviewed her son and he said "My mother's faith is like a rock - you can stand on it" and that will forever stay with me. Imagine faith so strong you can stand on it. It seems almost impossible to me. I remember reading an interview with Maya's son a few weeks back where the interviewer asked "What was it like growing up in your mother's shadow?" to which her son replied "I always thought I was her light". Again, remarkable.

The final part of the Q&A session with Maya and Oprah (also known as 'After the Show') saw a very pregnant woman ask Maya ad Oprah for words to put in her child's baby book. Oprah didn't have an answer - she told the woman to buy one of Maya's books. But Maya insisted on answering. It was almost six years ago but I remember her saying "This could be the child to put an end to racism. This could be the child to bring equality to this country and peace to the world. This could be the child who changes the world because this is possible and this will happen in your child's lifetime".

I feel crushed today. Like I have nothing left to give and I am beaten down, almost ready to give in...because if no one else believes, if no one else cares, why should I?

But now I will think of Maya and I. Will. Rise.