Rant & Rave: A New Age Angelou

I thought I was done for the year until I came across this video. It’s so much fun; using a childhood game to bring to light adult issues of struggle, race and conflict amongst others. I hope you guys like it as much as I do and I promise, I'mreally done for the year after this.

Rant and Rave: Maya Angelou – A teacher, a friend and an inspiration

 Love is a condition so powerful; it may be that which pulls the stars in the firmament. It may be that which pushes and urges the blood in the veins. Courage: you have to have courage to love somebody because you risk everything – everything.” 

Maya Angelou 

The sadness that filled my heart yesterday when I found out about Dr. Maya Angelou’s passing, I cried so hard my colleagues thought I was going to have a panic attack. I’m at a loss for words, I feel as though I have lost a mother, a teacher, a confidant, a source of inspiration and a whole lot more.
Mama Maya’s words saw me through some crippling moments of confusion, embarrassment and self-doubt, but they also propelled me forth into self-love, passion and the pursuit of happiness.

This is my word of thanks to God, for her life and her work. I may not have known her personally, but I am glad to have lived in the same time as her and I am glad I got to experience her sparkle.

Rest in Peace Mama Maya, I still hope that one day our souls will collide. 

 

Angelou Corner: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings

I can proudly say i've saved the best for last with this one. 
This will be my last Angelou Corner post and i could not have picked a better one to end of with. I take from the from this piece the want of a being to be without any knowledge of the how and a willingness to grow with an inability to begin the process. the bird does not sit in it's cage dwindling away doing nothing but, it sings in hopes of a better tomorrow. Do the right thing, regardless of your circumstance. 

Please let me know if there are any other poets you would like a feature on. 

The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom

The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing

The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom. 

Maya Angelou till the death!!!

Angelou Corner: Refusal

Beloved,
In what other lives or lands
Have I known your lips
Your Hands
Your Laughter brave
Irreverent.
Those sweet excesses that
I do adore.
What surety is there
That we will meet again,
On other worlds some
Future time undated.
I defy my body's haste.
Without the promise
Of one more sweet encounter
I will not deign to die. 

Current Read

I went out during lunch with the intention of buying a pair of shoes, that mission was quickly abandoned when I walked past the Exclusive Books. I bought myself Maya Angelou’s I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings and I could hardly contain myself as I started reading it at Steers whilst waiting for my burger and chips.
This is going to be one of those that I can hardly pull myself from; I can feel it in my fingers.  

Angelou Corner: The Detached

It's amazing how closely I can relate to this woman and her body of work. Every month, through this blog I expose myself to a piece of her poetry and every month I see bits of me and the struggles i'm currently enduring through it. 

I know that soon i'm going to have gone through to large a chunk of Maya's work to continue the Angelou Corner and at that point i'm going to have to focus my attention onto a different poet, but till then i hope both you and I can find refuge in this great writer's words. 

We die, 
Welcoming Bluebeards to our darkening closets, 
Stranglers to our outstretched necks, 
Stranglers, who neither care nor
care to know that
DEATH IS INTERNAL.

We pray, 
Savoring sweet the teethed lies, 
Bellying the grounds before alien gods, 
Gods, who neither know nor
wish to know that
HELL IS INTERNAL.

We love, 
Rubbing the nakednesses with gloved hands, 
Inverting our mouths in tongued kisses, 
Kisses that neither touch nor
care to touch if
LOVE IS INTERNAL. 

Angelou Corner: Remembrance

Your hands easy
weight, teasing the bees
hived in my hair, your smile at the
slope of my cheek. On the
occasion, you press
above me, glowing, spouting
readiness, mystery rapes
my reason

When you have withdrawn
your self and the magic, when
only the smell of your
love lingers between
my breasts, then, only
then, can I greedily consume
your presence.

Angelou Corner: They Went Home

I like this piece; it's another one that i can totally relate to.

It's simple and concise yet clear and straight to the point. No lengthy explanations needed for this piece.

They went home and told their wives,
that never once in all their lives,
had they known a girl like me,
But… They went home.

They said my house was licking clean,
no word I spoke was ever mean,
I had an air of mystery,
But… They went home.

My praises were on all men’s lips,
they liked my smile, my wit, my hips,
they’d spend one night, or two or three.
but…

Angelou Corner: Alone

Lying, thinking
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.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can't use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They've got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I'll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
'Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone. 

Angelou Corner - Weekend Glory

I love the weekends spent with my friends Zizi and Lulu. They make life great and situations that would otherwise be dire are fun, easy and carefree. They inspired this month’s Angelou Corner.

I love you girls, you make my life!

Some clichty folks
don’t know the facts,
posin’ and preenin’
and puttin’ on acts
strechin’ their backs.

They move into condos
up over the ranks,
pawn their souls
to the local banks
buying big cars
they can’t afford
riddin’ around town
actin’ bored.

If they want to learn how to live life right
they ought to study me on Saturday night.

My job at the plant
ain’t the biggest bet,
but I pay my bills
and stay out of debt.
I get my hair done
for my own self’s sake
so I don’t have to pick
and I don’t have to rake.

Take the church money out
and head cross town
to my friend girl’s house
where we plan our round.
we meet our men and go to a joint
where the music is blue
and to the point.

Folks write about me.
They just can't see
how I work all week
at the factory.
Then get spruced up
and laugh and dance
And turn away from worry
with sassy glance.

They accuse me of livin'
from day to day,
but who are they kiddin'?
So are they.

My life ain't heaven
but it sure ain't hell.
I'm not on top
but I call it swell
if I'm able to work
and get paid right
and have the luck to be Black
on a Saturday night.

When You Come by Maya Angelou

When You Come

When you come to me, unbidden,
Beckoning me
To long-ago rooms,
Where memories lie.

Offering me, as to a child, an attic,

Gatherings of days too few.

Baubles of stolen kisses.

Trinkets of borrowed loves.

Trunks of secret words.

I CRY.

Maya Angelou's Still I Rise

Still I Rise

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