Maya Angelou's Elegy For Michael Jackson
Among the many notable moments at Michael Jackson's funeral was Queen Latifah's reading of the Maya Angelou poem "We Had Him." The popular poetess wrote the poem specifically for the occasion (no easy task) and just that morning asked Latifah to perform it, which she did with spirit and elegance.
"We Had Him" is typical of Angelou's work: inspirational and accessible, confident, and deriving power from its rhythms and repetition. You probably know her popular poem "Phenomenal Woman," and might remember another occasional poem she wrote, "On the Pulse of the Morning," which she read at Bill Clinton's first inauguration.
Here's a transcript of "We Had Him" (I took a best guess at the line breaks--Angelou may have intended them to fall elsewhere):
Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing,
now that our bright and shining star can slip away from our fingertips
like a puff of summer wind.
Without notice, our dear love can escape our doting embrace.
Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon.
In the instant that Michael is gone, we know nothing. No clocks can tell time.
No oceans can rush our tides with the abrupt absence of our treasure.
Though we are many, each of us is achingly alone, piercingly alone.
Only when we confess our confusion can we remember
that he was a gift to us and we did have him.
He came to us from the creator, trailing creativity in abundance.
Despite the anguish, his life was sheathed in mother love, family love,
and survived and did more than that.
He thrived with passion and compassion, humor and style.
We had him whether we know who he was or did not know,
he was ours and we were his.
We had him, beautiful, delighting our eyes.
His hat, aslant over his brow, and took a pose on his toes for all of us.
And we laughed and stomped our feet for him.
We were enchanted with his passion because he held nothing.
He gave us all he had been given.
Today in Tokyo, beneath the Eiffel Tower, in Ghana's Black Star Square.
In Johannesburg and Pittsburgh, in Birmingham, Alabama, and Birmingham, England
We are missing Michael.
But we do know we had him, and we are the world.
The audience responded well to the poem. What do you think?
I find more poignancy in this quote from her book I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: "A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song."
Michael didn't seem to have a lot of answers, but for all of his faults, he sang a powerful song.
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I'll miss Michael, watched him as the "jackson 5" and followed his career for years. Truly talented and very giving. What happened, maybe the poem shares some insight ...
Maya Angelou is brilliant. She knew her audience-young, elderly, middle-aged, educated, non-educat
Beautiful poem. Queen Latifah did a wonderful job reading it too.
Beloveds, now we know that we know nothing,
that is a powerful statemtent. Maya Angelou is a living genius. Love her!
Great poem. Bad picture. YIKES!!!
I know! She looks like she has her face pressed up against the glass.
I. who once having had the honor of meeting Dr. Angelou and sharing an adventure with her during the Kwame Nkrumah's presidency of Ghana, know she put her heart in the poem she wrote for Micheal Jackson "We had him" The title said it all.
Peace & Love, My Sister
Kojoman
She left out a lot.
But you have to give the customer what they want.
"Sing our songs among the stars and walk our dances across the face of the moon. " This is a beautiful and fitting elegy for Michael.
Maya rocks. LOVE her writing. Especially I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings.
"language is man's way of communicating with his fellow man and it is language alone that separates him from the lower animals."
- Maya Angelou, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Chapter 15
I think that Maya Angelou delivers for those who commission her. She's a professional.
And that's all.
Many acclaimed poets have written commissioned works, but commissioned work doesn't make up the entire body or most of their work.
Probably because she's popular and contemporary, there tends to be a lot of snobbery towards Angelou. In their snobbery people tend to forget that some of the dead and revered poets of the past also wrote commissioned works, and these poets also tried to get the most exposure and publishing of their work.
Acclaimed American poets such as William Carlos Williams, Randall Jarrell, and Robert Frost were commissioned by the US Government, and were paid to be Consultants in Poetry. Williams had a full literary career. His work consists of short stories, poems, plays, novels, and essays. He didn't do all of this for free. No doubt some of it would have been commissioned.
Even William Shakespeare was a professional who wrote to earn a living. He also wrote commissioned works.
Anyway, please could you tell us which of the following works of Angelou's poetry was commissioned, and by whom?
Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'Fore I Diiie
Oh Pray My Wings are Gonna Fit Me Well
Still I Rise
Shaker, Why Don't You Sing
Now Sheba Sings the Song
I Shall Not Be Moved
Life doesn't frighten me
Phenomenal Woman: Four Poems for Women
A Brave and Startling Truth
From a Black Woman to a Black Man
Amazing Peace
Mother, a Cradle to Hold Me
Celebrations, Rituals of Peace and Prayer
Poetry for Young People
You forgot "They Went Home" one of my favs!
Oh! and "Weekend Glory", lol. Ok...I'll stop. But obviously I'm a big fan. Maya is awesome!
So Maya Angelou is a "popular poetess," is she? Good thing she doesn't write a lot of prose, or she'd be an "authoress," although I prefer "writeress" myself.
That word went out in the middle of the last century. Angelou is a poet and a good deal more. I suggest you check out:
http://www
Being "popular" is the least of her accomplishments.
You got him spot on. Too bad he doesn't read these things. I knew him in Santa Cruz.
You sound like an avid readeress
It's pretty good.
Maya Angelou might not be the best poet but she did call the AA state senators in NY state to ask them to vote for gay marriage.
So she is a thoughtful and kind woman. And a brave one.
Luv you Maya but this poem is superficial and almost juvenile - cant even come close to the elegance and profundity of this excerpt from Caged Bird :
"Oh, Black known and unknown poets, how often have your auctioned pains sustained us? Who will compute the only night made less lonely by your songs, ..."
"this poem superficial and almost juvenile"
Perhaps fitting for the pop culture nature of the occasion, the audience and the person being eligised?
The themes, circumstances and motivations that inspired "Caged Bird" are VERY different from those that brought about "We Had Him". The words of "We Had Him" probably aren't that profound, but they were very appropriate and nice for the occasion.
Besides, who says that a highly acclaimed and profound poet, author, or song writer can't write "less deep" and accessible work for the masses and for particular occasions?
"less deep" I like that; must remember it. Certainly is "less deep"
Beautiful poem. So true.
Great poem! http://www
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