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Angelou’s poetry collections include The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (1994) and Phenomenal Woman (1995), a collection of four poems that takes its title from a poem which originally appeared in Cosmopolitan magazine in 1978. The poem’s narrator describes the physical and spiritual characteristics and qualities that make her ...
Facedown in ignorance, Your mouths spilling words. Armed for slaughter. The Rock cries out to us today, You may stand upon me, But do not hide your face. [...] Maya Angelou, “On the Pulse of Morning” (excerpt) from On the Pulse of Morning. Copyright © 1993 by Maya Angelou.
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.
The following eight poems—presented chronologically from her earliest publication to the public poem she read at President Bill Clinton’s first inauguration—showcase Angelou’s poetics. Maya Angelou’s selected poems in order of publication. 1970s.
Still I Rise - Discover the meaning behind Maya Angelou's inspiring poem, with an audio recording of actress Rosie Perez reading this classic work, which has been celebrated by Serena Williams, Cory Booker, and other public figures.
Come, rest here by my side. Each of you, a bordered country, Delicate and strangely made proud, Yet thrusting perpetually under siege. Your armed struggles for profit. Have left collars of waste upon. My shore, currents of debris upon my breast. Yet today I call you to my riverside, If you will study war no more. Come,
Last night. How to find my soul a home. Where water is not thirsty. And bread loaf is not stone. I came up with one thing. And I don’t believe I’m wrong. That nobody, But nobody. Can make it out here alone.
