Maya Angelou's poetry - lyrical and dramatic, exuberant and playful - speaks of love, longing, partings; of Saturday night partying, and the smells and sounds of Southern cities; of freedom and shattered dreams. 'The caged bird sings/ with a fearful trill/ of things unknown/ but longed for still/ and his tune is heard/ on the distant hill/ for the caged bird/ sings of freedom.' Of her poetry, KIRKUS REVIEWS has written, 'It is just as much a part of her biography as I KNOW WHY THE CAGED BIRD SINGS, GATHER TOGETHER in MY NAME, SINGIN' AND SWINGIN' AND GETTING MERRY LIKE CHRISTMAS, and HEART OF A WOMAN.'
***
[Is it true the ribs can tell / the kick of the beast from a / lover's fist? (A KIND OF LOVE, SOME SAY)] ***(Virago, 4 April 2013, first published 1978, ebook, 100 pages, bought from Amazon)
***
***
And Still I Rise contains some amazing, life affirming, world altering poems. Among my favourites were Phenomenal Woman, And Still I Rise and The Caged Bird. The poems pack a punch. I enjoyed every poem in this collection. Some of the poems I've read before in various collections and anthologies. I read many more for the first time. The poems in And Still I Rise deal with experiences of slavery, love, domestic violence among others.
