Still I Rise Part One

You may write down in history
With you 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?
Browed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakness 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
Dighin' in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eye,
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
Ast 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 wonderously clear
I rise

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave

I am the dream and the hopes of the slave.

I rise.

I rise.

I rise.

¤By Maya Angelou

Note: 
I just copied this poem as it was.  All grammar errors are from the author.  Stay tuned for part two which is my thoughts on this poem.