Maya Angelou Passes Away

[Southie]

Maya Angelo, only the 2nd poet to participate in a presidential inauguration - Clinton 1992 - passed away peacefully today. Great contribution to society.

RIP

[Monk]

re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

ina lillahi wa ina elehi rajeoon

[SID_NY]

re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

She was a great asset to the society.

[Muzna]

re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

One of the greatest minds of this century…

“My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors.”

“I know that when I pray, something wonderful happens. Not just to the person or persons for whom I’m praying, but also something wonderful happens to me. I’m grateful that I’m heard.”

“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver.”

Maya Angelou

RIP Maya

[el_topo]

Re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

When Great Trees Fall
by 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.

[Muzna]

Re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

How appropriate!
Thanks!

@el_topo

When Great Trees Fall
by 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.

[goodname]

Re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

A great tribute to Maya Angelou by the New York Times:

Thank you Maya for enriching our world.

[Southie]

Re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

Saw the video. Error in OP. This was 1996 address.

[partyslims]

Re: Maya Angelou Passes Away

Thanks for posting that beautiful poem J <3