I took time to be quiet the Wednesday earlier this summer that the death of our American Poet Laureate was announced. “The Caged Bird” had flown at 86 years, long after she bent and broke the bars of young victimization
I took time to be quiet the Wednesday earlier this summer that the death of our American Poet Laureate was announced. “The Caged Bird” had flown at 86 years, long after she bent and broke the bars of young victimization and flew out, beyond normal (thank goodness!), to become extraordinary.
A Kauai poet friend, Michaella Mintcheff, sent out an invitation to the independent poets and writers here to an almost impromptu celebration held in honor of Maya Angelou’s life. The garden stage of Storybook Theatre is now becoming a poets’ gathering place on the first Friday of each month during the Hanapepe Art Walks. Due to an earlier commitment, I had to miss this occasion. But I hear it went well, and that “Phenomenal Woman” was one of the poem offerings by Lisa Wilson.
Here, an excerpt from what a poet named Terence Craddock shared on social media sources, writing about Angelou’s “Phenomenal Woman” in defense of controversial opinions written by other men.
Me thinks it is time
I stuck my oar in …
Have they never heard
Maya Angelou recite one of her poems?
A Phenomenal Woman?
… rebirth as phoenix a phenomenal life!
Craddock went on to list Angelou’s credits (“actress, author, civil rights activist, director, educator, magazine editor, playwright, poet, producer, singer, song writer … ‘three Grammy Awards for her spoken word albums.’” He mentioned that she’d been awarded over 40 honorary degrees among numerous other honors.
“Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman …”
That was her, our national poet Maya Angelou, who has been heralded as a great voice of contemporary literature.
In the 1970s I read her famous book, “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.” The memoir moved me deeply. I was a mother of four active children — teens to tot, living in a safely comfortable, rural town that later ballooned as a bedroom community for Dayton, Ohio. Needing more than a suburban housewife role, I decided to return to school and encourage my writing habit.
Dayton’s racial troubles that caused riots in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s had calmed. Aside from winter’s hazardous driving conditions and checking to see who might be skulking as I parked and walked blocks to the city college, my life was super safe. Predictably safe. As with a caged bird …
It can be a lovely cage, provided with seed, water, cuttle fish and millet galore, so to speak. There might even be a mirror with a bell and a swinging perch to provide some fun for the bird, or birds.
Like Angelou in her memoir, I was looking for freedom — in this case, freedom of the mind to explore, try new ideas, learn and experiment, gauge the wisdom recorded and built upon over centuries of human experience. It was a search to find what made life full, instead of wistful, or resigned.
That’s when I rediscovered poetry — not in a dry, academic way, but alive as a free bird that sings because it’s meant to. When I attended a riveting performance by Robert Bly one evening, I understood why in some societies poets are revered. As I look back, I see that turning point for me went beyond understanding with my mind; it was a phoenix-rising moment of heart and whole body passage into a new, freer life.
Poems and poetry will not be the manna for all. The moments of epiphany when people transcend the “Is-that-all-there-is?” Peggy Lee question of life come in many forms and unexpected ways. The main thing of importance, is that the seeker seeks until he or she finds the way.
Maya Angelou understood this. Here was a girl who went mute at age 7 from childhood trauma. At age 13, she spoke again, finally understanding that her words and wishes did not kill the man she hated. She overcame early motherhood as a single parent and tedious work that in no way drew upon or stimulated her artistic, dramatic talents. She sang out freely to give others in dead-end situations hope and courage to find a way out of their metaphoric cages, whether imposed upon them, or self-induced. She can be an example to all of us.
To honor her life and work, you might Google “Maya Angelou” or “Why the Caged Bird Sings.” This would bring you an amazing amount of graphic and auditory material celebrating this late poet and her unique voice.
Angelou, despite the extreme challenges and setbacks — including those underlined by being an African-American woman — leaves us a legacy in the results of her action and in the treasure of her words, which echo her mind, flying free.
• Dawn Fraser Kawahara has been a Kauai writer and promoter for 30 years. Born in British India, brought up in Australia and California, she found her home and heart on Kauai in 1984. Originator and curator of the long-running April-as-National Poetry Month “Poetry Fest” for the Garden Island Arts Council, she is a former Poet-In-The-Schools for Kauai. She launched and continues to run her TropicBird Press and Tropic Bird Weddings & Celebrations – Kauai as part of DAWN Enterprises.
