There is a beautiful calm in not being enslaved to the buzz and beep and ring of each incoming notification. But there is also much that is missed. Maya Angelou's passing was a surprise to me, and though I never knew her, I am affected by the loss.
Today, I pulled the poetry books off our dusty bookshelf and sat down on the patio to remember her, to honor her in the only way I knew how. I read through her thoughts, her poems, pausing over certain phrases and words. I reread many, considering what the words might have meant to her and what they now mean to me. I read my favorites aloud, some repeatedly, getting lost in the rhythms and rhymes. Many still move me.
My introduction to Maya Angelou came through her poem "Phenomenal Woman."
As an intensely insecure young woman, I found courage in this poem. Courage to embrace myself, faults and all; courage to embrace others, faults and all. I used to think that it was wrong of me to find such freedom in her words, as I had never experienced the deep pain that she endured. But, as I continued to read and reread and be moved by her poetry, I learned that her words transcended specific groups, speaking to all people in all walks of life.
Is there a specific Maya Angelou poem that has echoed in your own heart? Will you share it with me?
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