You are too dark, <br />you have a lisp, <br />your stomach is bulging, <br />they said.. <br />Thank God for this angel, <br />she didn't let negativity settle in my head, <br />Although I am a man, <br />I never thought the day would come when I would see, <br />myself not as a failure but phenomenally, <br />Ms. Angelou was a single mother, <br />the struggle was difficult I know it, <br />but she still found time to become America's favorite poet, <br />her words were like animals running free on a meadow, <br />never ending like rejection by the world while living in a ghetto, <br />who ever thought a black woman from Missouri could recite a poem at the inauguration, <br />Ms. Angelou, <br />you are the face of our cultures perpetuation, <br />you gave faith and hope to many, <br />including me, <br />Thank you angel for teaching us to live, <br />PHENOMENALLY<br /><br />Jesse Pickens<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/phenomenal-angel-maya-angelou/