Maya Angelou's Poem "On the Pulse of Morning"

1. Maya Angelou

   Author
2. Maya Angelou was an American author and poet. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning more than 50 years. Wikipedia
4. Born: April 4, 1928, St. Louis, Missouri, United States
5. Died: May 28, 2014, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States

On the Pulse of Morning

Maya Angelou’s 1993 inaugural poem and remarks

12 January 2009

This document and its associated audio file (5:48) are distributed with permission of the Clinton Presidential Library.

Mr. President and Mrs. Clinton,
Mr. Vice-President and Mrs. Gore,
And Americans Everywhere …

On the pulse of the morning

A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.

The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.

But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.

I will give you no hiding place down here.

You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.

Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.

Read more: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2009/01/20090112155227berehellek0.2457697.html#ixzz33MRcPB3J