Windows of the Soul

I can’t fly anymore,
I was never meant to,
I can never soar,
With my broken wings,
The words I sigh,
Are lost in the wind,
I cannot reach the sky,
With my broken angel wings,
The thoughts are turning,
Deep inside my soul,
Tears in my eyes are burning,
Because of my broken wings,
Was this meant to happen now?
I have cast my ideals aside,
I don’t why I am or how,
Alone with broken angel wings,
To heaven I cannot fly,
I am held down by despair,
Why do I even try?
I have but broken wings,
I walk my steps alone,
I have nothing,
Nothing to call my own,
Except my broken angel wings,
I have a hole inside of me,
It consumes my mind,
I cannot fight myself free,
Hampered by broken wings,
There is no one who will care,
Or protect me,
From others when they stare,
At the angel with broken wings,
I live without a spark,
Walking in solitude,
Treading lightly in the dark,
Dragging my broken wings,
I can’t fly,
I can’t see,
I can’t die,
I have but broken wings.

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.