Maya Angelou

[FireSon]

One of my mother's favorite people passed on last week. Maya Angelou's poems grace our walls, her books take up shelves in our library, and her voice echoes when all is quiet.

I imagine my mom and she are having wonderful conversations right now.

I know why the caged bird sings ~ Maya Angelou

A free bird leaps on the back
Of the wind and floats downstream
Till the current ends and dips his wing
In the orange suns 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 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.

The free bird thinks of another breeze
And 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.

[Orlion]

That was the first poem of hers I've read. I've read the memoir "I know why the Caged Bird Sings" and I feel she had a very effective voice for discussing difficult topics. Through her, I could gain at least SOME understanding of the historic plight of the African American.

Not only that, she was a gateway to Langston Hughes and James Baldwin... and in the case of Mr. Baldwin, Angelou's memoir allowed me to understand aspects of Baldwin's writings that would have otherwise flown under my radar.

Her's was a voice that elucidated many issues of our time, and it is a voice that will sorely be missed.