San Francisco Public Library’s 19th One City One Book: San Francisco Reads selection, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
This One City One Book title was chosen with the unveiling of the new monument honoring Dr. Angelou, Portrait of a Phenomenal Woman by Lava Thomas, on the front steps of the Main Library overlooking Civic Center. This is the first monument commemorating a Black woman in San Francisco’s Civic Art Collection and is the foundation of an entire Citywide celebration of Dr. Angelou this year.
At the monument’s dedication ceremony on September 19, 2024, San Francisco Poet Laureate Genny Lim delivered this poem dedicated to Dr. Maya Angelou.
Why the Caged Bird Sings
For Maya Angelou
If you’re going to die this evening,
what will you do in the time that remains?
-Mahmoud Darwish
Why does the caged bird sing?
She sings when darkness falls
Not waiting for tomorrow’s call
Why does the caged bird sing?
She sings because she does not wait
for the sun to lift her from her fate
or some quick fix or court of law to
save her from the lyncher’s claw
This bird waits for no one
Her flight to freedom’s never done
To be dragged by hatred’s chain
Hell no, that’s not her game
She is not invisible
She is indivisible
Like the sun that rises on her
Black, Brown and Yellow sisters
who stand proud and tall beside her
She knows that life is an unmade bed
ready for love any day or weather
So why does the caged bird sing?
She knows that freedom rings
with whatever joy you bring
and If you’re going to die this evening
what will you do in the time that remains?
That’s why the caged bird sings
© 2024 Genny Lim
