Rest in Peace Maya Angelou

by **Admin** Fri May 30, 2014 2:30 pm

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As we have all heard Maya Angelou passed this week. Here is are two of her legendary works. One written for Michael Jackson (read at his memorial at Staples Center on 7/6/09) and another for Princess Diana as well as thoughts from a few people...

Michael Jackson Poem recited by Maya Angelou

The first and only public reading of "We Had Him" by Maya Angelou. This is the poem she wrote for the Michael Jackson memorial.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing

Now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips like a puff of summer wind

Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace

Sing our songs among the stars and and walk our dances across the face of the moon

In the instant we learn that Michael is gone we know nothing

No clocks can tell our time and no oceans can rush our tides

With the abrupt absence of our treasure

Though we our many, each of us is achingly alone

Piercingly alone

Only when we confess our confusion can we remember that he was a gift to us and we did have him

He came to us from the Creator, trailing creativity in abundance

Despite the anguish of life he was sheathed in mother love and family love and survived and did not more than that

He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style

We had him

Whether we knew who he was or did not know, he was our’s and we were his

We had him

Beautiful, delighting our eyes

He raked his hat slant over his brow and took a pose on his toes for all of us and we laughed and stomped our feet for him

We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing

He gave us all he had been given

Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana’s Blackstar Square, in Johannesburg, in Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama and Birmingham England, we are missing Michael Jackson

But we do know that we had him

And we are the world.

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The Week Of Diana

The dark lantern of world sadness has cast its shadow upon the land.

We stumble into our misery on leaden feet.

Our minds seek to comprehend the unknowable and our hearts seek to

Measure a tomorrow without the Sunshine Princess.

Her hands which had held bright tiaras and jewelled crowns,

Also stroked the faces of pain along

Angola’s dusty roads.

She was born to the privilege of plenty

Yet, she communed with the needy without a show of pompous piety.

Glowing in Bosnia, radiant at glittering balls,

We came to love her and claim her for her grace and accessibility.

Luminous always.

We smiled to see her enter and grinned at her happiness.

Now the world we made is forever changed…

Made smaller, meaner, less colorful.

Yet, because she did live,

Because she ventured life and confronted change,

She has left us a legacy.

We also may dare…

To care for some other than ourselves and those who look like us.

And maybe we can take a lesson from her

And try to live our lives

With passion, compassion, humor and grace.

Goodbye Sunshine Princess.

- Maya Angelou

Written specially for The Guardian, September 5, 1997

Maya Angelou was my favorite author. I have every book she has ever written. I’ve written lesson plans based on her writing at every grade level I’ve taught from first grade to college. Today, the world does seem less colorful.

Updated with thoughts from Oprah, Clinton, Quincy Jones and Obama.

President Barack Obama: “When her friend Nelson Mandela passed away last year, Maya Angelou wrote that ‘No sun outlasts its sunset, but will rise again, and bring the dawn.’

Today, Michelle and I join millions around the world in remembering one of the brightest lights of our time — a brilliant writer, a fierce friend, and a truly phenomenal woman. Over the course of her remarkable life, Maya was many things — an author, poet, civil rights activist, playwright, actress, director, composer, singer and dancer. But above all, she was a storyteller — and her greatest stories were true. A childhood of suffering and abuse actually drove her to stop speaking — but the voice she found helped generations of Americans find their rainbow amidst the clouds, and inspired the rest of us to be our best selves. In fact, she inspired my own mother to name my sister Maya.

Like so many others, Michelle and I will always cherish the time we were privileged to spend with Maya. With a kind word and a strong embrace, she had the ability to remind us that we are all God’s children; that we all have something to offer. And while Maya’s day may be done, we take comfort in knowing that her song will continue, ‘flung up to heaven’ — and we celebrate the dawn that Maya Angelou helped bring.”

Oprah Winfrey: “I’ve been blessed to have Maya Angelou as my mentor, mother/sister, and friend since my 20′s. She was there for me always, guiding me through some of the most important years of my life. The world knows her as a poet but at the heart of her, she was a teacher. ‘When you learn, teach. When you get, give’ is one of my best lessons from her.

She won three Grammys, spoke six languages and was the second poet in history to recite a poem at a presidential inauguration. But what stands out to me most about Maya Angelou is not what she has done or written or spoken, it’s how she lived her life. She moved through the world with unshakeable calm, confidence and a fierce grace. I loved her and I know she loved me. I will profoundly miss her. She will always be the rainbow in my clouds.”

Quincy Jones: “I am so deeply saddened about the loss of my dear friend, colleague and sister of 46 years, Maya Angelou. From collaborating on two songs on my soundtrack for ‘For Love of Ivy’ in 1968 to delivering her poem ‘Pulse of the Morning’ during the Clinton Inaugural in 1992, working with Maya always brought joy and love. As an author and poet, Maya Angelou’s ability to channel God’s voice and express the feelings deep within all of humanity will never be matched by another. She gave us words when we could find none, and helped us to see clearly when the light was dimmest. Maya would always teasingly say to me, ‘Darling, let’s have ‘lurnch”, and I will always be ready. I will miss her deeply, but I know her presence will always be with us.”

President Bill Clinton: “With Maya Angelou’s passing, America has lost a national treasure; and Hillary and I, a beloved friend.

The poems and stories she wrote and read to us in her commanding voice were gifts of wisdom and wit, courage and grace.

I will always be grateful for her electrifying reading of “On the Pulse of Morning” at my first inaugural, and even more for all the years of friendship that followed.

Now she sings the songs the Creator gave to her when the river ‘and the tree and the stone were one.’

Our deepest sympathies are with Guy and his family.”
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RIP Maya Angelou ~

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