Still I Rise - 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.

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.

- I love the self-belief this poem has. Angelou shows that no matter what someone says or does to you all that matters is that you believe in yourself. She will continue to rise regardless of anyones negativity because those thoughts are that persons problem, not hers. Her belief is quite infectious when you read the poem - I feel empowered just reading her words. "I rise I rise I rise" is an affirmation to strengthen the soul.

Miracles - Walt Whitman

Why! who makes much of a miracle?

As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles,

Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan,

Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky,

Or wade with naked feet along the beach, just in the edge of the

water,

Or stand under trees in the woods,

Or talk by day with any one I love--or sleep in the bed at night with

any one I love,

Or sit at table at dinner with my mother,

Or look at strangers opposite me riding in the car,

Or watch honey-bees busy around the hive, of a summer forenoon,

Or animals feeding in the fields,

Or birds--or the wonderfulness of insects in the air,

Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down--or of stars shining so quiet

and bright,

Or the exquisite, delicate, thin curve of the new moon in spring;

Or whether I go among those I like best, and that like me best--

mechanics, boatmen, farmers,

Or among the savans--or to the soiree--or to the opera,

Or stand a long while looking at the movements of machinery,

Or behold children at their sports,

Or the admirable sight of the perfect old man, or the perfect oldwoman,

Or the sick in hospitals, or the dead carried to burial,

Or my own eyes and figure in the glass;

These, with the rest, one and all, are to me miracles,

The whole referring--yet each distinct, and in its place.

To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,

Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,

Every square yard of the surface of the earth is spread with the

same,

Every foot of the interior swarms with the same;

Every spear of grass--the frames, limbs, organs, of men and women,

and all that concerns them,

All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles.

To me the sea is a continual miracle;

The fishes that swim--the rocks--the motion of the waves--the ships,

with men in them,

What stranger miracles are there?

- Every thing is miraculous! To me the miracle of birth and the possibility of giving life to another human being is lifes greatest miracle. Whether it be standing under a tree or sleeping in bed with the one you love...everything is divine - nothing is greater or lesser than anything or anyone else. We are all made of the same stuff, all dwelling in a beautiful world don't really understand, all dwelling in a body made of skin and bones that we never asked to be born into. It's all about what you choose to focus your attention on. The miracle that is 'you' is part of an even bigger miracle. Choose love. Choose Peace. Choose to be inspired and to inspire others.

The quote attached to this wonderous photograph is by Albert Einstein. He says:

"There are two ways to live your life. One as though nothing is a miracle. The other as though everything is a miracle."

A Dream Within A Dream - Edgar Allan Poe

Take this kiss upon the brow!

And, in parting from you now,

Thus much let me avow-

You are not wrong, who deem

That my days have been a dream;

Yet if hope has flown away

In a night, or in a day,

In a vision, or in none,

Is it therefore the less gone?

All that we see or seem

Is but a dream within a dream.

I stand amid the roar

Of a surf-tormented shore,

And I hold within my hand

Grains of the golden sand-

How few! yet how they creep

Through my fingers to the deep,

While I weep- while I weep!

O God! can I not grasp

Them with a tighter clasp?

O God! can I not save

One from the pitiless wave?

Is all that we see or seem

But a dream within a dream?

- This poem highlights the transitory nature of life. Standing on the shore, Poe is looking back on his life and wondering if it has all been a dream. He realises that nothing lasts forever, everything is constantly changing. He cannot even hold onto a grain of sand before it is swept away to sea (possibly a symbol of nature ever changing - the grains of sand could symbolise his loved ones slipping away from him and going 'home'). I think this poem serves as a reminder to treasure what you have right here, right now in this moment.

Poetry - Edmund Vance Cooke

To deftly do what many dimly think;

To fund a feeling for the world to borrow;

To turn a tear to printer's ink;

To make a sonnet of a sorrow.

- I love poems about poetry - poets writing about what it means to write. For me personally, when I write its because I don't know how not to write - a word, a picture, a feeling comes to me and I pick up pen and paper in the same way I breathe in and out. You are a special soul if you can make your words and experiences a source of inspiration to another and if you make the choice to 'turn a tear to printer's ink'.

Storms - Margie DeMerell

There will be storms, child

There will be storms

And with each tempest

You will seem to stand alone

Against cruel winds

But with time, the rage and fury

Shall subside

And when the sky clears

You will find yourself

Clinging to someone

You would have never known

But for storms.

- So true. The storm-clouds have a silver lining that's sometimes very hard to see, especially if you are in the eye of the storm. When the tough times in your life pass - you are able to look back and see what or who you gained from having weathered the storm.

Just One - Poet Unknown

One song can spark a moment,
One flower can wake the dream.
One tree can start a forest,
One bird can herald spring.
One smile begins a friendship,
One handclasp lifts a soul.
One star can guide a ship at sea,
One word can frame the goal
One vote can change a nation,
One sunbeam lights a room
One candle wipes out darkness,
One laugh will conquer gloom.
One step must start each journey.
One word must start each prayer.
One hope will raise our spirits,
One touch can show you care.
One voice can speak with wisdom,
One heart can know what's true,
One life can make a difference,
You see, it's up to you!

- What difference are you going to make to the world today?

Dreams - Langston Hughes

Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.

Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.

- Imagination is everything, its a preview of lifes coming attractions. Our dreams are what make us who we are. This poem tells me to have faith and believe in the possibilities of dreams coming true. When you lose faith you are not fulfilling your life purpose - "a broken-winged bird that cannot fly". Stay strong. Believe.

Are You The New Person Drawn Toward Me? - Walt Whitman

Are you the new person drawn toward me?

To begin with take warning, I am surely far different from what you suppose;

Do you suppose you will find in me your ideal?

Do you think it so easy to have me become your lover?

Do you think the friendship of me would be unalloy'd satisfaction?

Do you think I am trusty and faithful?

Do you see no further than this facade, this smooth and tolerant

manner of me?

Do you suppose yourself advancing on real ground toward a real heroic man?

Have you no thought O dreamer that it may be all maya, illusion?

- Awesome. When we start to like someone we build up an idea in our head of the kind of person they are. We build up images of what a relationship with this person would be like and live out scenarios in our mind. Whitman tries to beware the 'dreamer' of getting carried away in a land of make-believe (maya = illusions of the universe). When we fall in love we only see all the amazing qualities about that person. The poet suggests he doesn't want to be put on a pedestal.

I Am Not Yours - Sarah Teasdale

I am not yours, not lost in you,

Not lost, although I long to be

Lost as a candle lit at noon,

Lost as a snowflake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still

A spirit beautiful and bright,

Yet I am I, who long to be

Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love -- put out

My senses, leave me deaf and blind,

Swept by the tempest of your love,

A taper in a rushing wind.

- I absolutely love reading different peoples takes on love and what it means to them to long for someone. I love Teasdales passion and yearning to be fully absorbed in the object of her affection "Oh plunge me deep in love...leave me deaf and blind". I think "Lost as a candle lit at noon, Lost as a snowflake in the sea" perfectly describes her desire to be one entity with her love. There is no rhyme or reason when it comes to true love.

Seeker of Truth - E.E Cummings

seeker of truth

follow no path

all paths lead where

truth is here

- Beautifully short and to the point. There is a great Zen saying this makes me think of...

"The only Zen you find on the tops of the mountains is the Zen you bring up there"

Truth isn't something that comes to you in the form of a person, place or thing - its something you have to find within yourself whatever path you choose in life...

Solitude - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone.

For the sad old earth must borrow it's mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, it is lost on the air.

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go.

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all.

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a long and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.

- I love and hate how true this poem is. People are more than happy to share in your happiness and its when the hard times hit you may find the 'bestest' of friends actually don't care about you at all unless you have a smile on your face. "They want full measure of your pleasure but do not need your woe". Its so apt - everyone is striving for the ultimate happiness and will try to find this at the expense of someone elses sadness. I thank the tough times in my life for showing me who deserves my friendship and who doesn't...

one love...one heart...lets get together and feel alright...