In every town and village
In every city square
In crowded places
I searched the faces
Hoping to find
Someone to care

I read mysterious meanings
in the distant stars,
Then I went to schoolrooms
And poolrooms
And half-lighted cocktails bar.
Braving dangers,
Going with strangers,
I don't even remember their name.
I was quick and breezy
And always easy
Playing romantic games.

I wined and dined a thousand exotic Joans and Janes
In dusty dance halls, at debutante balls,
On lonely country lanes.
I fell in Love forever,
Twice every year or so.
I wooed them sweetly, was theirs completely,
But they always let me go.
Saying bye now, no need to try now,
you don't have the proper charms.
Too sentimental and too much gentle
I don't tremble in your arms.

then you roose into my life
Like a promised sunrise.
Brightening my days with the light in your eyes.
I've never been so strong,
Now I'm where I belong.


Maya angelou, "Belong"

Sounds like High School Yearbook poetry, sorry...

Maya Angelous is amazing, I got all of her books and poetry collections, i have so many favourites but in particular I love 'Senses of Insecurity'. But if you read all of her poetry there is a lot of repitition of the same themes and issues in her poems which is why sometimes i prefer the books, 'Even the starts look lonesome' is my favourite book at the moment because theres more of a mix then some of her earlier stuff.

I hear Maya is the biggest "B". A colleague of mine told me she had an assistant or something in tears and demanded the luncheon she attended remove ALL the lobster from the dinning hall because she is allergic. From what I hear she ripped this girl a new a$$hole.

So needless to say, the dinner had to be entirely flipped for Maya. No one ate lobster that day. Talk about some mess

I met Maya Angelou a few years ago when we interviewed her for some show. She was pretty cool.

I had the pleasure of listening to her read poetry a few years ago...

Absolutely amazing, spiritual, wonderful woman....

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: "Still I Rise"

I like her poetry.

My favorite (also, my theme):


Phenomenal Woman


Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.


Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.