Maya Angelou's Poems: Phenomenal Woman, Caged Bird, and Still I Rise

Phenomenal Woman

BY MAYA ANGELOU

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.

Maya Angelou Quotes

“While I know myself as a creation of God, I am also obligated to realize and remember that everyone else and everything else are also God’s creation.”

“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.”

“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible.”

“It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”

“Listen to yourself and in that quietude you might hear the voice of God.”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

“The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. The desire to reach hearts is wise.”

“Never make someone a priority when all you are to them is an option.”

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.”

“I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.”

“I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”

“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.”

“If I am not good to myself, how can I expect anyone else to be good to me?”

“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.”

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude..”

“My great hope is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody and have the courage to accept the love in return.”

“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

“I’ve learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. I’ve learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you’ll miss them when they’re gone from your life..”

“Be a rainbow in someone else’s cloud.”

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Becoming Me

Becoming Me

April 25, 2014

What will it take to get you to see

That what you've become is not what you were meant to be

Slaves of another man’s whims

Not commanders and chiefs of your own life’s dreams

Limitations & lack were meant to defraud you

Of what it means to be children of Prime Creator

Whose likeness, image, & abilities given

Human experience limited consciousness forgotten

Deep down inside you know something’s been missing

IDENTITY – WHO, WHAT, WHERE, HOW

A purpose, my purpose of NOW

 

I didn't come here to die

To be nothing

I didn't come here to live

Aimlessly forgotten

I AM THAT I AM

And only I can define that.

I do what I do

Not for money, worth, or profit

I Love because Love is something I can’t help but be

I Love myself

I Love my life

I Love being happy

I Love feeling joy

I Love peace

I Love prosperity

I Love compassion

And I Love forgiveness too

And most of all I Unconditionally Love you

This is what I was meant to be

Love’s Experience

All Rights Reserved

FREEDOM - Let it Ring!!

F R E E D O M

April 25, 2014

F is for FREEDOM, FEELINGS, and FUN

FREEDOM to be me. Walking safely in my feelings with no one judging me. Having FUN wherever and whatever I am doing, knowing that it brings joy to those around me.

R is for REALITY, RESTING, and RELIEF  RELIEF from all limitations holding me back, created in the mind of me, by the surroundings of me, whether cultural, social, political, or religiously. They are no longer my REALITY. My REALITY is RESTING in knowing I AM 100% unequivocally FREE. To roam wherever I want to go on this FREE Earth; I walk in the FREE Air I breath with the FREE Food Mother Earth intended for Me

E is for ETERNAL, EARTH, and ENOUGH

E is for EXCITING, ECSTATIC, and ENTRUST

I’ve been ENTRUSTED to care for Mother EARTH, all creatures great and small, the Elementals and Cetaceans too, all for one, one for all.  I AM ETERNALLY grateful for the Creator, All That Is, who gave me the EXCITING gift of Loving EARTH and all it bounteously gives, that’s more than ENOUGH for all inhabitants.  Become ECSTATIC about the EARTH, like it was in the beginning –brand new. EXPLORING the Love of our Planet, every creature and being too

D is for DIVINE, DEVOTION, & DECLARE

Being created by DIVINE, I AM indeed DIVINE, and I claim my DIVINITY, as DIVINELY mine. There is no shame or taking the Lord’s names in vain for I AM DECLARED “Good”.  My goal and DEVOTION is to be like the DIVINE for in the DIVINE do I move and have my being. Created in the DIVINE image, likeness, and abilities, I’ll never more doubt what Love is all about. For Love created Me.

O is for ONENESS, OMNI, and OVERJOYED

ONENESS is what I feel when I touch God and God touches me, internally, eternally, emotionally, and mentally; Etherically, exoterically, and through all other objects too. The All That Is, the Creator, from whence we all came, is OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT, OMNIPRESENT, and very much alive. We each know this as a fact deep down inside.  I AM OVERJOYED in knowing how much I AM beloved by my Creator. For the bond that knits us all together in the Energy that formed us is Love.

M is for MAGNIFICIENT, MOTHER, and MOTIVATE

I AM MOTIVATED to finally live in my new-found freedom. Celebrating MOTHER Earth and living in unity with her.  I AM glad to be alive in this MAGNIFICENT era, during this MAGNIFICENT time, doing my part in the Great Plan, FREEing humanity from old timelines of destruction into Love, Prosperity, and Peace

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Freedom starts with your thoughts, then feelings, words, and finally actions. You got to believe it so you can manifest what life on Earth will be for everyone.  Read further for more information on how we can bring about change.