Read Online Letter to My Daughter by Maya Angelou - Free Book Online

the ground
    upon which I put my building
    I raised a beautiful house
    and I lived in it for a year
    Then it slowly drifted away with the tides
    for I had laid the foundation upon shifting sand

    Another time I erected a
    mansion, the windows shining
    like mirrors
    and the walls were hung
    with rich tapestry, but
    the earth shook with a
    slight tremor, and the walls gave way, the floors opened
    and my castle fell into pieces around my feet

    The emotional sway of events and the impermanence
    of construction echo the ways of dying love.

    I have found that the platonic affection
    in friendships and the familial
    love for children can be relied upon
    with certainty to lift the bruised soul
    and repair the wounded spirit
    and I am finished with
    erotic romance.

    Until…

Salute to Older Lovers
    A sixty-five-year-old woman friend recently married a fifty-two-year-old man. At the ceremony there were many faces stiff with disapproval. What did he want marrying her? Weren’t there young women properly three or four years younger than he? And what did she mean marrying him? In ten years, osteoporosis will ride her back without a saddle, and arthritis will disfigure her hands. If she could not find a mate when she was younger, she should just give up, give in, and give over to old age and loneliness.
    And what did I think? I said, “I commend lovers, I am en-heartened by lovers, I am encouraged by their courage and inspired by their passion.”

    I have come to speak
    of love of its valleys and its hills
    its tremors, chills and thrills
    I have come to say I love love
    and I love loving love
    and I, surely, love
    the brave and sturdy hearts
    who dare to love.
    Today, these lovers
    have broken the bonds of timidity
    and stepped out
    before the entire world to say,
    “See us, family and friends
    denying none of the years
    which have branded our bodies
    and none of the past broken vows
    which have seared our souls.
    You may think this undertaking
    Should be left to younger hearts
    But love has given us the courage to venture
    boldly into the sacred country of
    marriage, admitting our wrinkles,
    we allow them to
    show themselves bravely
    and our bones know the weight
    of the years.
    Yet we dare
    face down loneliness
    and embrace the
    uplifting communion
    found in a good marriage.
    We dare and we hope.”

    They are blessed by love, and each of us on whom their love light beams is enriched.
    Thank you, Lovers.

Commencement Address

    And now the work begins
    And now the joy begins
    Now the years of preparation
    Of tedious study and
    Exciting learning
    are explained.

    The jumble of words and
    Tangle of great and small ideas
    Begin to take order and
    This morning you can see
    A small portion of the large
    Plan of your futures.

    Your hours of application,
    The hopes of your parents,
    And the labor of your instructors
    Have all brought this moment
    Into your hands.

    Today, you are princesses and princes
    Of the morning.
    Ladies and Lords of the summer
    You have shown the most
    Remarkable of all virtues
    For today as you sit
    Wrapped in earned robes,
    Literally or figuratively,
    I see you filled with courage.
    For although you might all
    Be bright, intellectually astute,
    You have had to use courage
    To arrive at this moment.
    You may be,

    As you are often described,
    Privileged, which of course means
    Wealthy, or you have been born into an ongoing struggle with need.
    In either case, you have had to develop
    An outstanding courage to
    Invent this moment.

    Of all your attributes, youth,
    Beauty, wit, kindness, mercy,
    Courage is your greatest
    Achievement,

    For you, without it, can practice no other
    Virtue with consistency.

    And now that you have shown
    That you are capable of manufacturing
    That most wondrous virtue,

    You must be asking yourselves,

    What you will do with it.
    Be assured that question
    Is in the minds of your
    Elders, your parents, and strangers
    Who do not know your names,
    Your fellow students who
    Next year, or