A look behind my eyes

This is such a lovely poem about inner strength and courage that I just had to share it with you.

Still I Rise ~ by Maya Angelou

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 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