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A review by elyse33
And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
challenging
emotional
inspiring
so happy to have read some maya angelou now - she writes about such a vast range of emotions and experiences here + every poem - especially towards the end of the book - really got at the core of you. her style is almost less flowery than other poets i've read but communicates a lot of complex emotions + ideas succinctly.
some quotes <3
You, whose chanteys hummed
my life alive, have withdrawn
your music and lean inaudibly
on the quiet slope of memory.
[Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?]
One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
[Men]
I defy my body's haste.
Without the Promise
Of one more sweet encounter
I will not deign to die.
[Refusal]
You left me to force strangers
Into brother molds, exacting
Taxations they never
Owed or could ever pay.
[Kin] like???? FUCk????
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.
[Caged Bird]
Beside you, prone,
my naked skin finds
fault in touching.
(...)
the awful fear of losing
is not enough to cause
a fleeing love
to stay.
[Prelude To A Parting]
(...) the heart
breaks slowly, dismantling itself
into unrecognizable plots of
misery,
[Prescience]
some quotes <3
You, whose chanteys hummed
my life alive, have withdrawn
your music and lean inaudibly
on the quiet slope of memory.
[Shaker, Why Don't You Sing?]
One day they hold you in the
Palms of their hands, gentle, as if you
Were the last raw egg in the world. Then
They tighten up. Just a little. The
First squeeze is nice. A quick hug.
Soft into your defenselessness. A little
More. The hurt begins. Wrench out a
Smile that slides around the fear. When the
Air disappears,
[Men]
I defy my body's haste.
Without the Promise
Of one more sweet encounter
I will not deign to die.
[Refusal]
You left me to force strangers
Into brother molds, exacting
Taxations they never
Owed or could ever pay.
[Kin] like???? FUCk????
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.
[Caged Bird]
Beside you, prone,
my naked skin finds
fault in touching.
(...)
the awful fear of losing
is not enough to cause
a fleeing love
to stay.
[Prelude To A Parting]
(...) the heart
breaks slowly, dismantling itself
into unrecognizable plots of
misery,
[Prescience]