Phenomenal Women, a poem by Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies

I tell them it’s in the reach of my arms, It’s in the span of my hips It’s in the stride in my steps and in the cult of my lips because

So phenomenal that sometimes I walk into a room just as cool as you please

And to a man they either stand or fall down on their knees

Then they swarm around me like a hive a honey bees and I say woahhhh must be this fire in my eyes

Maybe it’s the flash of my teeth, the swing in my waist, or just the joy, in my feet I don’t know

And men themselves they wonder just what it is they see in me

Sometimes they try so much but they can not touch this inner mystery

And when I try to tell them they still can’t see I say to them ahhh

It’s me, a phenomenal woman

When you see me walking it ought to make you proud

Cause I’m a phenomenal woman

It’s the bend in my hair and the palm in my hand and the need for my care

Phenomenal women

That’s me and that’s you (And a few phenomenal men)