Poetry Challenge #290-Maya, I Will Rise!
Judy Garland may have sung “Clang-Clang-Clang goes the trolly” but Maya made that trolly GO! Today we celebrate the birthday of San Francisco’s first female streetcar conductor—an African American woman to boot—Maya Angelou!
Maya Angelou , born Marguerite Ann Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. She had a tough life which provided plenty of fodder for her National Book Award nominated, Pulitzer Prize Awarded, Grammy Winning, mostly autobiographical novels, essays, and poems.
Here’s a bit of “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me” to give you a sense of this sensational woman:
When Maya was 15 she applied for the job of streetcar conductor. Plenty of boys her age were doing the job as were women. But because she was Black, she was rejected. Every day for three weeks she returned requesting a new application. Finally the company relented. She applied again (gave her age as 19) and thus became the first African American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco.
Cabaret Singer
After that she was married, had a son, Guy Johnson, worked all sorts of jobs.
Her writing career took off after she joined the Harlem Writers Guild in 1959.
In 1993, Maya became the first person since Robert Frost in 1961, to recite a poem “On the Pulse of Morning,” at a President’s Inauguration.
Poetry Challenge #290
Maya, I Will Rise!
Maya Angelou’s wrote in a direct and informal voice.
Her stories are welcoming for readers as she is inviting them to share her secrets with them. She also used “persuasive and strong similes and metaphors.” www.litpriest.com
Choose a metaphor to describe an aspect of who you are.
Write an autobiographical poem using that metaphor. For example, in her first autobiographical novel, “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings,” Maya Angelou compared herself to a caged bird.
Begin as Maya did with the words, “I know why” . . .
Set Your Timer for 7 Minutes
Start Writing!
Don’t Think About it, Write It!
Cindy Faughnan and I began this 7-Minute Poetry Challenge 2400+ days ago. Now we take turns creating prompts to share with you. Our hope is that creatives—children & adults—will use our prompts as springboards to word play time. If you join us in the Challenge, let us know by posting the title, a note, or if you want, the whole poem in the comments.
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All who subscribe, comment or share a poem will be entered in . . .
