Still I Rise

Share This Post

BY MAYA ANGELOU

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.

Photo by Jose Manuel Mota (Flickr)

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 backyard.

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.


More To Explore

Health Benefits of Foods

Benefits of Bee Pollen

Benefits of Bee Pollen:  Bee pollen is food for baby bees, it is made by bees, and is a dynamic foodstuff rich in protein, amino

Skin Care

Natural Tips to Soothe Psoriasis

Psoriasis is a persistent, long-lasting (chronic) disease. It is a common skin disease that affects the life cycle of skin cells, causes cells to build

Witness Unveiled Secrets of TMS Treatment
antidepressants

Witness Unveiled Secrets of TMS Treatment

Mental health is not a topic that many people talk about; however, studies have shown that not only do women suffer from depression. Recent studies

Scroll to Top