Monday 15-10-2018 - 09:08

Rhiannon Gurney, an English student at University of Liverpool, marks Black History Month by sharing her Top 5 Maya Angelou poems.

One of my favourite things about being a literature fanatic is the omnipresent chance of rediscovering authors that I have previously adored. I recently had this experience with Maya Angelou, a poet I obsessed over during my mid-teens because of her witty yet haunting discourse.

I first encountered Angelou’s work via a YouTube clip of her performing ‘And Still I Rise’. As I sat there, headphones in, I began to feel what can only be described as pure admiration. Her voice, a soft, Southern American lilt, punctuated with the powerful force of her words, echoed in my head for days, and so I began to read more. Poems, videos, articles, documentaries, I drank them up, eager to hear more of this woman’s work – poetry, which made my mouth smile but my heart ache.

Angelou’s life is rich and interesting, but by no means was it without its suffering. Her autobiographies demonstrate her subjugation to crises surrounding race and identity from an early age, to criticism of her demonstration of her sexuality later on. As a white reader, Angelou’s words allowed me to witness the turmoil people of colour faced and continue to face, and she both mortified me and enveloped me in doing so. That is the reason I choose to share with you her work this Black History Month.

1. Equality – Reading this aloud for Liverpool Guild’s ‘Hear My Voice’ event awoke my love for this poem. With Angelou’s familiar drumming rhythm, Equality reiterates the link between discrimination based on both race and sexuality. It’s stirring mantra, ‘Equality, and I will be free’ epitomises the theme running throughout Angelou’s work, and is an evocative reminder that there remains a vast journey for racial equality.
2. Junkie Monkey Reel – This poem has a unique sense of violence that dramatically conveys the difficulties of addiction. Angelou’s use of onomatopoeia and gruesome imagery intertwine in a way that makes the reader both empathetic and uncomfortable. It is both incredible and horrible, and demonstrates her poetic flair beautifully.
3. And Still I Rise – This is where my discovery of Angelou began, and I am simply so grateful for its existence.
4. Woman Work – the listing at the beginning of Woman Work juxtaposed with the emphatic description at the end strikingly depicts one of its main themes: womanhood. Angelou’s authorship here provokes thought surrounding the role of women within the domestic sphere, a topic particularly close to my heart, and her craft in doing so is outstanding.
5. Caged Bird – This poem is probably my favourite on this list. Angelou’s intricate comparison of a caged bird and a free bird create a melancholy afterthought that I hope never goes away. Every time I hear it performed I cry - to me, this is a sign of a true artist, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I do.