always, always freedom: a found poem

                        the life of maya angelou

by Sister Lou Ella Hickman

original

and origin st. louis

not yet eight years old  

raped

mute

five arkansas years

her nomadic journey

a litany:

 1940  san francisco

 a cocktail waitress  a prostitute

 madam  a cook   and a dancer

1944 a son

late 1950’s new york   

harlem’s writers guild

porgy and bess 

studied danced with martha graham

cairo  later ghana

 california  again   a feature film

(one of the first african american women)

roots   poetic justice  how to make an American quilt

down to the delta

her life: maya angelou and still i rise

poetry volumes  “On the Pulse of Morning”     professor

medal of freedom

always   always   freedom  the caged bird sang

Taken from “Maya Angelou: American poet, memoirist, and actress” Encyclopedia Britannic online.

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Sister Lou Ella Hickman’s poems and articles have appeared in numerous magazines and journals as well as four anthologies. She was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2017. Her first book of poetry entitled she: robed and wordless was published in 2015 (Press 53).