Women's History Month Celebrating Phenomenal Women

A poem by Maya Angelou, a phenomenal woman, to kick off Women’s History Month, a month of celebrating phenomenal women.

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies
I'm not cute or built to suit a model's fashion size
But when I start to tell them
They think I'm telling lies.
I say
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips
The stride of my steps
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please
And to a man
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees
Then they swarm around me
A hive of honey bees.
I say
It's the fire in my eyes
And the flash of my teeth
The swing of my waist
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say
It's in the arch of my back
The sun of my smile
The ride of my breasts
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say
It's in the click of my heels
The bend of my hair
The palm of my hand
The need for my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally
Phenomenal woman
That's me.
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Maya Angelou

Born in St Louis in 1928

Autobiographical book: I Know Why the Caged
Bird Sings (1969)

At 8 years old was assaulted and didn’t speak for four years

Appointed by Jimmy Carter to the Commission for International Woman of the Year

1993 wrote and delivered a poem, "On The Pulse of the Morning," at the inauguration for President Bill Clinton at his request

The first black woman director in Hollywood
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Poem found at feminst.com

More on Women’s History Month at http://www.nwhp.org/about_nwhp/mission/mission.html

More on Maya Angelou at http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/87