Helen Plus Three

Still I Rise   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 thig...

MY CHILD Be my child, be happy. Be at peace, be spontaneous. Be bold, try it, speak, take a chance. See with eyes, hear with ears ever clear. Be open to wonders around us. Open minds, trusting hearts, always dear. Believe in you. Say yes I can! Be merry. Always mine. - HA (2009)

This poem reminds me of my father and how he lives  and I am and will be the ''  forlorn and shipwrecked brother,  Se eing, shall take heart again. " Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)              A PSALM OF LIFE        WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN                     SAID TO THE PSALMIST     T ELL  me not, in mournful numbers,         Life is but an empty dream ! —     For the soul is dead that slumbers,         And things are not what they seem.     Life is real !   Life is earnest!         And the grave is not its goal ;     Dust thou art, to dust returnest,         Was not spoken of the soul.     Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,         Is our destined end or way ;     But to act,...

I want to get at least a couple of books by this American autobiographer and poet who has been called "America's most visible black female autobiographer",  I read one of her poems on another blogger's site and an excerpt of 'Letter to My Daughter' and knew I should get her books...... Below is one of her poems from her collection .. Still I Rise 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? Shou...