'Kalo Mina' is a greeting many say on the first of every month in Greece ~ it's essentially blessing your friends and family to a healthy/happy month. I thought I'd kick start a new series in which I'll share a poem on the first of every month that I cherish and that'll set the tone for the coming weeks.
Maya Angelou was a magnanimous poet that I've worshipped for a long time and who has helped me through many rough seas. She once said that although she only gave birth to one son, she has thousands of daughters. "I have daughters who are black and white, Asian and Spanish-speaking, and native American," she said. "I have daughters who are fat and thin, pretty and plain, gay and straight. I have all sorts of daughters who I just claim. And they claim me." What a glorious sentiment.
There are two quotes of hers in particular that I cling to. Growing up with divorced parents, dual nationality and a chaotic childhood (to say the least), her quote about home always gave me great comfort: "you can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right". Another quote of hers has also underpinned my philosophy on friendship and strangers: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
I picked up a book of her poetry in a charity shop in Greenwich during my first year of uni and each poem silenced me. There is a wealth of wisdom that her work is soaked in. Here is the poem I'd like to share this month ~ let it wash over you:
Although there are countless poems in this book that echo through me, there is something about this particular one that lingers and soothes. It encourages me to keep on rolling the dice.
In many ways it also reminds me of one of my favourite lyrics taken from Talking Heads' Slippery People:
"Fall on your face, you must be having fun".
I have a feeling they'll be many more of Maya's poems featured on my blog in the coming months...
Feel free to share any poems that have touched you recently!
