And I Still Rise is a famous and beautiful poem written by Maya Angelou. The poem talks about the strength and courage. It shows that no matter what the difficulties or sad moments come in life, she will always keep rising and moving forward. The is full of powerful words that make people strong and proud, even when life is giving you tough challenges.
The poem is having repeated phrase “I rise”. It reminds us that we can overcome everything we want to. The poem is a message of hope and power which encourages everyone to always believe in themselves and rise above any difficult challenge.
You can also read Audre Lorde‘s poem which is famous for their honesty and strength. She writes some important topics in the poem such as race, gender, and identity which often focuses on the experiences of Black women. Her poetry is a way for her to express her inner feelings and stand up for what believes in. Her poems are very personal, which aims to reflect her life and all the struggles she faced as a Black woman and a lesbian. He words inspire people to fight for equality and justice.
And Still I Rise Poem
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Read More: Footprints in the Sand Poem by Mary Stevenson
Poem And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own back yard.
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
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.
Read More: Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep Poem by Mary Elizabeth Frye
Audre Lorde Poems
standing upon the constant edges of decision
crucial and alone
for those of us who cannot indulge
the passing dreams of choice
who love in doorways coming and going
in the hours between dawns
looking inward and outward
at once before and after
seeking a now that can breed
futures
like bread in our children’s mouths
so their dreams will not reflect
the death of ours:
who were imprinted with fear
like a faint line in the center of our foreheads
learning to be afraid with our mother’s milk
for by this weapon
this illusion of some safety to be found
the heavy-footed hoped to silence us
For all of us
this instant and this triumph
We were never meant to survive.
it might not remain
when the sun sets we are afraid
it might not rise in the morning
when our stomachs are full we are afraid
of indigestion
when our stomachs are empty we are afraid
we may never eat again
when we are loved we are afraid
love will vanish
when we are alone we are afraid
love will never return
and when we speak we are afraid
nor welcomed
but when we are silent
we are still afraid
So it is better to speak
remembering
we were never meant to survive
Read More: Beautiful Poems on Nature
The Collected Poems of Audre Lorde
my magic is unwritten
but when the sea turns back
it will leave my shape behind.
I seek no favor
untouched by blood
unrelenting as the curse of love
permanent as my errors
or my pride
I do not mix
love with pity
nor hate with scorn
and if you would know me
look into the entrails of Uranus
where the restless oceans pound.
within my birth nor my divinities
who am ageless and half-grown
and still seeking
my sisters
witches in Dahomey
wear me inside their coiled cloths
as our mother did
mourning.
for a long time
beware my smile
I am treacherous with old magic
and the noon’s new fury
with all your wide futures
promised
I am
woman
and not white.
its force remains within
my eyes
rockstrewn caves where dragonfish evolve
wild for life, relentless and acquisitive
learning to survive
where there is no food
my eyes are always hungry
and remembering
however the image enters
its force remains.
A white woman stands bereft and empty
a black boy hacked into a murderous lesson
recalled in me forever
like a lurch of earth on the edge of sleep
etched into my visions
food for dragonfish that learn
to live upon whatever they must eat
fused images beneath my pain.
A Mississippi summer televised.
Trapped houses kneel like sinners in the rain
a white woman climbs from her roof to a passing boat
her fingers tarry for a moment on the chimney
now awash
tearless and no longer young, she holds
a tattered baby’s blanket in her arms.
In a flickering afterimage of the nightmare rain
a microphone
thrust up against her flat bewildered words
“we jest come from the bank yestiddy
borrowing money to pay the income tax
now everything’s gone. I never knew
it could be so hard.”
Despair weighs down her voice like Pearl River mud
caked around the edges
