I Still Rise
by Maya Angelo
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.
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