Phenomenal Woman

BY  MAYA ANGELOU Men themselves have wondered

What they see in me.
Pretty women wonder where my secret lies. They try so much
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size But they can’t touch
But when I start to tell them, My inner mystery.
They think I’m telling lies. When I try to show them,
I say, They say they still can’t see.
It’s in the reach of my arms, I say,
The span of my hips, It’s in the arch of my back,
The stride of my step, The sun of my smile,
The curl of my lips. The ride of my breasts,
I’m a woman The grace of my style.
Phenomenally. I’m a woman
Phenomenal woman, Phenomenally.
That’s me. Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.
I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please, Now you understand
And to a man, Just why my head’s not bowed.
The fellows stand or I don’t shout or jump about
Fall down on their knees. Or have to talk real loud.
Then they swarm around me, When you see me passing,
A hive of honey bees. It ought to make you proud.
I say, I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes, It’s in the click of my heels,
And the flash of my teeth, The bend of my hair,
The swing in my waist, the palm of my hand,
And the joy in my feet. The need for my care.
I’m a woman ’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally. Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
Phenomenal woman, That’s me.
That’s me.

Maya Angelou, “Phenomenal Woman” from And Still I Rise. Copyright © 1978 by Maya Angelou. Used by permission of
Random House, an imprint and division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.

Source: The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou (Random House Inc., 1994)

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