“Still I Rise” by Maya Angelou (1978)

This iconic poem from Maya Angelou’s And Still I Rise: A Book of Poems has a confrontational tone that sets the speaker against the pain inflicted by the “you,” as in “You may trod me in the very dirt” (Line 3). In spite of their “bitter, twisted lies” (Line 2), the speaker rises “like dust” (Line 4). Similarly, “Morning Song” envisions the tiny journalist spying on her enemies with help from “puffs of dust” that “find her first” (Line 29). Despite her challenging circumstances, “she has a better idea” (Line 39). In both poems, real history is interwoven, including slavery and racism in America for Angelou and the Israel occupation of the West Bank for Nye.

“First Generation Immigrant” by Rupi Kaur (2014)

This short poem from Rupi Kaur’s self-published collection Milk and Honey shows the challenges of losing a home “at the risk of / never finding home again” (Lines 2-3). In “Morning Song,” Nye confronts the conditions of Ayyad’s home—her father’s homeland—which has been impacted by war and death. Kaur addresses being caught between two countries as an immigrant. Nye speaks to Ayyad being caught between two neighboring countries constantly at war and an attempt at shedding a global light on the need for peace.