Yesterday, a truly phenomenal woman passed, Maya Angelou. While you pretty much had to be living under a rock to miss this tidbit of news. It was truly touching to see the world mourn the loss of someone who had given us so much. Especially in this day and age where poetry, literature, heck, even activism takes second fiddle to celebrity news.
This morning I heard again one her readings of poem, Phenomenal Woman. Written in 1978, like all great poems it resonates as though it were written this morning.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
We still need to hear it.
If you don’t have time to listen to the reading… read the Phenomenal Woman in full here, it’s not that long, and worth the read.
Comments 1
Amazing, thank you for honoring her and sharing this poem! She was such a huge presence in the world that I never imagined her gone. Such a loss, but thank goodness she was with us for so long. xx