President Barack Obama kisses author and poet Maya Angelou after awarding her the 2010 Medal of Freedom during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Feb. 15
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30 Responses to “the caged bird sings”
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I love this SOOOOOOOO MUCH!! This pic says a MILLION WORDS!!
This photo makes me weepy in a great way!!
My immediate reaction also….this is so pulling on my heart strings.
This man our President really can make a lady cry.
Simply beautiful.
So beautiful. Thanks for this one Chipsticks!
What a blessing for this wonderful lady. The picture is overwheming and no words can suffice.
President Obama is a bird who had been released from the cage and can now fly.
Maya Angelou
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
The free bird leaps
on the back of the win
and floats downstream
till the current ends
and dips his wings
in the orange sun rays
and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks
down his narrow cage
can seldom see through
his bars of rage
his wings are clipped and
his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings
with fearful trill
of the things unknown
but longed for still
and is tune is heard
on the distant hillfor the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
an the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom.
Maya Angelou
Thanks, barb. PBO is the fulfillment of the dreams the caged birds sang for hundreds of years–a dream and a hope come to life. This is my favorite poem. I am also very pleased to hear that Dr. Angelou was a favorite of the president’s mother, and that his sister is named for her.
Thank you majii for your thoughts. It is true that PBO is the fullment of the dreams of the caged bird. It is so poignant how Dr. Angelou words describe a truth without ever speaking the words they truthfully imply. I didn’t know that Maya, PBO’s sister was named after her. A remarkable woman, PBO’s mother, was so ahead of her time just like our President.
Sorry………..fullfillment.
thank you Barb. That book is very important to me. I have kept it for so many years. The award seemed incredibly important to her. Maybe more than others. I imagine for Maya and Bill it had special meaning since it was bestowed by an African American.
Dorothy, I must admit that I have never read Dr. Angelou’s book. Thanks for informing me, I will purchase it soon. There are no words to describe the depth of her feelings when the President honored her with that award. Bill has always been his own person He stands tall not only in stature but in spirit.
I think the moment got to Mr Angelou and she was left speechless
what a beautiful moment for both the President and Maya
AWWWW ! My God….I am at work, and I can’t stop sobbing, must go to the ladies room, before someone asks me wath’s wrong…I can’t help myself, Wow…a soft kiss in a cheek from a great man, transformed an image of the Great Maya, maybe even her couldn’t find a great line….but that face just says is at all for me.
I must stop crying now…back to work
Thank you kindly Chip for the best venue you present day in, and day out, so grateful (This site is a bit addicting) it’s all good….Keep ‘em coming
Aw Kasai, I felt exactly the same when I saw Maya, but I was lucky I wasn’t in the office at the time – you poor thing! You’re lovely
Kasai, you are lovely.
So many great people honored today, I sniffled through the whole ceremony due to PBO’s warmth and graciousness but this was a very special moment with Maya Angelou. I’ve also had the opportunity to meet Sylvia Mendez and she is a very sweet and gentle woman. BRAVO and congrats to the honorees!!
Sylvia Mendez has such an extraordinary story, Meta, what a pleasure it must have been to meet her.
Thanks for all the wonderful Phots; but these from the Ceremony just take me away. I keep referring to this my 75th year — I am so grateful that I have lived to see this awe-inspiring President and to witness how he reaches out daily to all of us.
I would never have thought of the 1st President Bush and the Poet-Writer Maya Angelou in the same sentence but he was well-able to choose from thousands and compile this list of fifteen worthy Americans representative of the best of who we were and who we are today.
Today , I am there with Dr. Angelou; Today, I am there and feel the hug and the kiss; today, I am pround to be a senior, black American Female. The struggle has been worth it to be able to pull up these marvelous pictures on my home lap-top.
Sincere thanks to whomever started sending me “the only Adult in the room” last Fall; my world has truly been enhanced. God bless each of you !!
Yvonne D. Baskerville
MsYDB
So glad you are have joined this wonderful community, that with everyday celebrates shared hope and progress and recognizes the steady and gifted leadership of our President. Thank you for sharing your joys with us, I think you’ll find our feelings are mutual. I hope that you feel at home and will continue to share.
Yvonne!! I’m weepy again!
❤❤❤
Beautiful heartfelt words written by Miss Yvonne D. Baskerville
“Today , I am there with Dr. Angelou; Today, I am there and feel the hug and the kiss; today, I am pround to be a senior, black American Female. The struggle has been worth it to be able to pull up these marvelous pictures on my home lap-top.”
Thank you.
Yvonne, having reading your comment I don’t think Maya Angelou is the only poet in the room – what a beautiful interpretation of what you witnessed today. I’ve always adored Maya, so to see her there today and being acclaimed by the President in that tender, admiring, respectful way was beyond special, but I can only imagine how special it was for you. Thank you so much for your lovely words Yvonne, it’s just a pleasure to have you commenting here.
Awwwww this is so sweet!!! A really touching ceremony!!!
There somethings that are better left to speak for themselves and that picture is exactly how I feel. Speechless.
‘America is growing up.’ Yes, she is Dr. Angelou. Some of her children more slowly than others, but yes she is.
Very touching entries today, Chipsticks! Comme toujours, ‘merci mille fois!’
That one really brought the tears. I cried with her as I imagined all the emotions and thoughts flowing through her body and her mind. What an amazing time we live in. Yes, there are many reasons to love this country. A country that gave us a man like Barack Hussein Obama and a woman such as Dr. Maya Angelou.
OMG – you’re so right. I suppose without the right-wing ProfessionalFreakShow™ we wouldn’t completely understand how lucky we are to have such amazing people as the entire First Family, and Dr A.
Her face. LOVE HER FACE IN THAT PHOTO!!!!
If I ever have the pleasure to meet her in person, I’m going to just walk up and hug her!!! (Hope I don’t freak her out in the process…..)
My goodness President Obama’s mother, Ann, never ceases to amaze me. It is like she knew her son was destined to become a great man. She so prepared him for inevitable greatness. She exposed him to his African culture via Black America through books she brought him to read. Exposed him to jazz music and travel; i.e., on his visit to India last year, his mother had already taken him there and all the tourist sites he visited. When he and his family went to Yellowstone, his mother had also taken him there as a child. They lived in Indonesia, he still speaks a conversational Indonesian. She brought him back to Hawaii, I think, so he would not lose his American culture.
She names his sister Maya after the great African American poet Maya Angelou. It seems her heart was genuine and the love for her son was without reservation about his biracial background. He grew up in his mother’s culture, thereby giving him an understanding of her culture. President Obama writes in “Dreams from my father” on how his mother gave him the impression his father was an African king, later on in life he found out it wasn’t that grand. She never demonized his father to him the way some divorced parents do to each other. God was guiding her in the rearing of her gentle, caring son. I am so very, very grateful that God gave him to America.
Beautifully said graciouslady. Wish she were alive to see him now.