Day: January 24, 2018

Dream

Wendy Chan - English language & literature TutorLeave a comment

I know you are thinking about your dream when you are young, trying to study and prepare yourself to succeed in any way. I know you are thinking about your dream on your bed at midnight, pondering if tomorrow would give you light, showing you which way to go in sight. I know you are thinking about your dream through the window of an airplane, waiting to see the next destination of your journey, the new places you are going to visit. I know you are thinking about your dream in a bookstore, fiddling with books, from ancient to modern, which talk to your soul. I know you are thinking about your dream in a café, writing your resume, in the hope that you can get a well-paid job which pays off rent of your flat, when the price of rent continues to go up without end. I know you are thinking about your dream when dreams are only wishful thinking, no longer within reach, in a city where money is the only way out. I know you are thinking about your dream as you are toiling like a robot in an office, living like a cog in the mega machine, in return for a paycheck which allows you to live in a city where everything has a price tag on for buying and selling. I know you are thinking about your dream when the flies are coming to take over your job, your house, your school, your land and even your partner. I know you are thinking about your dream since you grow up in a grassroots family, when there is no hope for upward mobility in our city, in spite of how hard-working and smart you may be. I know you are thinking about your dream with your husband or wife, whispering if you should leave the city and find goodness in the foreign land, when things have become so gloomy and bleak after the handover. I know you are thinking about your dream after 50 years has gone and that you have seen enough to say that the best story is already gone.

Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou

Wendy Chan - English language & literature TutorLeave a comment

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need for my care.
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I like this poem very much. Maya Angelou is really a powerful poet when she writes about women. In this poem, she describes every little beautiful detail about women which makes women the readers feel their own feminine identities and appreciate their own characteristics. Honestly speaking, after reading this poem, I feel good about myself being a woman when men don’t quite get it our way. Every woman, let us all be phenomenal women!

 

Alone by Maya Angelou

Wendy Chan - English language & literature TutorLeave a comment

Lying, thinking
Last night
How to find my soul a home
Where water is not thirsty
And bread loaf is not stone
I came up with one thing
And I don’t believe I’m wrong
That nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires
With money they can’t use
Their wives run round like banshees
Their children sing the blues
They’ve got expensive doctors
To cure their hearts of stone.
But nobody
No, nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely
I’ll tell you what I know
Storm clouds are gathering
The wind is gonna blow
The race of man is suffering
And I can hear the moan,
‘Cause nobody,
But nobody
Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone
Nobody, but nobody
Can make it out here alone.

To make our city a better place to live in, we cannot make it alone.