My Favorite Maya Angelou Poem (RIP Queen)

Prolific author & Civil Rights activists Maya Angelou passed today, May 28, 2014. I don’t know anyone who was in school after the 1980 who had not studied her work at some point in their educational life. My first introduction to her works was a poem called “Life Doesn't Frighten Me”.

I truly believe Life didn't scare Maya Angelou, not one bit.

As with most deaths of someone famous and profound, we tend to go to social media to speak on our favorite things about that person. Interestingly enough my favorite poem by Maya Angelou is not “Phenomenal Woman” or “Still I Rise” Oh I know Many folks wonder how to figure me out and that’s why they use words to shoot down to me yet this Incredible Lady Gets Up. *wink* They are still not my favorite. My favorite poem, I first found when I worked in the library in college in the book, “The Collected Poems of Maya Angelou”.

That being an anthology of her works at that time, I looked for the original book it was published in. That book is called “I Shall Not be Moved”.

Maya is posed very sassy on the cover of that book. That is also why I like this poem. It is Sassy, Funny, & Inspiring. So I present to you my favorite Maya Angelou poem:

Seven Women’s Blessed Assurance

One thing about me,

I'm little and low,

find me a man

wherever I go.

They call me string bean

'cause I'm so tall.

Men see me

they ready to fall.

I'm young as morning

and fresh as dew.

Everybody loves me

and so do you.

I'm fat as butter

and sweet as cake.

Men start to tremble

each time I shake

I'm little and lean,

sweet to the bone.

They like to pick me up

and carry me home.

When I passed forty

I dropped pretense,

'cause men like women

who got some sense.

Fifty-five is perfect,

so is fifty-nine,

'cause every man needs

to rest sometime.

RIP Maya Angelou. You will forever be a True Inspiration to us all!!!

What’s your favorite work of Maya Angelou? Let me know in the comment box below.

As Always, Talking to You in Adult Terms