sketchseven's avatar

sketchseven

Obey Wheaton's Law
83 Watchers157 Deviations
41.8K
Pageviews
A poem that's immensely important to women, and POC – I love the strength and defiance in the language. Maya Angelou was quite the woman. 

--

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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 thighs? 

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise. 
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
There's something happening here
But what it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware

I think it's time we stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking' their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

What a field day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly saying, "hooray for our side"

It's time we stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line, the men come and take you away

We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

We better stop
Hey, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

We better stop
Now, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?

We better stop
Children, what's that sound?
Everybody look - what's going down?
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

I've been losin' sleep,
I've been keepin' myself awake,
I've been wandering the streets,
For days and days and days,

Going from road to road,
Bed to bed,
Lover to lover,
And black to red,

But I believe,
I believe

There's no salvation for me now,
No space among the clouds,
And I feel I'm heading down,
That's alright,
That's alright,
That's alright..
That's alright..

And I've been taking chances,
I've been setting myself up for the fall,
And I've been keeping secrets,
From my heart and from and from my soul.

Going from road to road,
Bed to bed,
Lover to lover,
Black to red,

But I believe,
I believe
There's no salvation for me now,
No space among the clouds,
And I feel I'm heading down,
But that's alright,

That's alright,
That's alright!
That's alright!

Road to road,
Bed to bed,
And lover to lover,
And black to red,
And road to road,
Bed to bed,
And lover to lover!

No space among the clouds
And I feel I'm heading down
But that's alright,
That's alright,
That's alright!
That's alright!
That's alright!
That's alright!

Road to road!
Bed to bed!
And lover to lover!
And black to red!
And road to road
bed to bed!
Lover to lover
To lover to lover
To lover to lover
To lover to lover
To lover to lover
To lover to lover

No salvation for me now
No salvation for me now
No salvation for me now
No salvation for me now

---

Really digging Florence and the Machine right now.

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In

There's a house across the river
but alas I cannot swim
And a garden of such beauty
that the flowers seem to grin
There's a house across the river
but alas I cannot swim
I'll live my life regretting that i never jumped in

There's a boy across the river
with short black curly hair
He wants to be my lover
and I want to be his peer
There's a boy across the river
but alas I cannot swim
And I never will get to put my arms around him

There's a life across the river
that was meant for me
instead I live my life in constant misery
There's a life across the river
but I do not see
why I should please those who will never be pleased

There is gold across the river
but I don't want none
There is gold across the river
but I don't want none

Gold is fleeting, gold is fickle, gold is fun!
Gold is fleeting, gold is fickle, gold is fun!

There is gold across the river
but I don't want none
I would rather be dry
then held up by a golden gun

Saying
Work more
earn more
live more
have more fun!

Saying
Work more
earn more
live more
have more fun!

Saying
Work more
earn more
live more
have more fun!

Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
She set your goldfish free and now she's sighing,
Blew out your pilot light and made a wish...
She doesn't have to have her dB's record back now,
But there's not a lot of things that she'll take back.

(She wants) She wants to see you again...
(She wants) She wants to see you again -
Slowly twisting (twisting, twisting) in the wind.
(Twisting) Twisting, twisting (twisting) in the wind...

She's not your satellite, she doesn't miss you,
So turn off your smoke machine and Marshall stack.
She doesn't have to have her Young Fresh Fellows tape back now,
But there's not a lot of things that she'll take back.

(She wants) She wants to see you again...
(She wants) She wants to see you again -
Slowly twisting (twisting, twisting) in the wind.
(Twisting) Twisting, twisting (twisting) in the wind...

(Ahhhhhhhhhh!)

(She wants) She wants to see you again...
(She wants) She wants to see you again -
Slowly twisting (twisting, twisting) in the wind.
(Twisting) Twisting, twisting (twisting) in the wind.

--

A song for Valentine's Day :D

--

sneaky | sketch seven
Join the community to add your comment. Already a deviant? Log In
Featured

Still I Rise - Maya Angelou by sketchseven, journal

For What It's Worth - Buffalo Springfield by sketchseven, journal

Lover To Lover - Florence and the Machine by sketchseven, journal

Alas I Cannot Swim - Laura Marling by sketchseven, journal

Twisting - They Might Be Giants by sketchseven, journal