Anyone else crying at the passing of Maya Angelou?

I am not crying. She lived a long, meaningful, very full life. She has gone to her rest and reward.

My favorite poem of hers is Still I Rise:

Poems by Maya Angelou : 18 / 28

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread 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.

Maya Angelou

I just heard of her passing when I logged on this morning. No, not crying but she was an artist of depth and her work will live on for generations to come.

I am happy for her. She gets to go on to the next stage of existence. She’s a lucky woman.

We were all blessed that she found her voice. Not crying, but grateful.

I recently listened to her reading her autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

Hearing (again) the story of her astonishing life, in her own powerful voice, was an uplifting experience. 10 hours long…wonderful for an extended road trip.

“We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.”

I cry when I lose a member of my own family or a close friend.

I like William Butler Yeats a whole lot better.
She was a very fine human being. An OK writer. I applaud her success.

Busy.

http://www.oregonlive.com/beer/index.ssf/2014/05/rogue_founder_and_oregon_brewi.html

I didn’t know much about her but read Phenomenal Woman today. Just amazing.

No, I’m not crying, but her passing, adds another drop or two to the pool of sadness and sense of loss in me that grows ever wider and deeper with the passing of each person who has touched my life.