Maya Angelou April 4, 1928-May 28, 2014

[bkcunningham1]

It must be a joyful day in heaven.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePodNjrVSsk

[dbussone]

It must be a joyful day in heaven.





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePodNjrVSsk


Amen!

[Monkei]

Incredible lady with incredible skills that she shared.

[lhasalady]

My favorite quote:
"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget the way you made them feel." Maya Angelou

[jrandall]

Agree! A remarkably talented and loving woman.

[graciegirl]

Hoping for the best, prepared for the worst, and unsurprised by anything in between.” -- Maya Angelou

[Patty55]

I've read most of her books, found them ispirational and insightful. To paraphrase two of my favorite quotes (from memory, I'm too lazy to google).

"When people show you who they are believe them the first time."

"When you know better you do better"

[BarryRX]

When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

[Madelaine Amee]

Amazing lady, she will be missed.

[quirky3]

Barry, thanks for posting that! I had never seen that before! Brought tears to my eyes.

[Taltarzac725]

When Great Trees Fall
Maya Angelou

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder,
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
see with
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken.

Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their
radiance,
fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die,
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.

Thanks so much for posting that poem of hers. I will have to read more of her poetry. http://www.poemhunter.com/maya-angelou/