PoemHunter.com   
The Detached by Maya Angelou   
Search:     
Home Poets Poems Lyrics Quotations Music Forum Member Area Poetry E-Books
 
Maya Angelou
Poems   Quotations   Comments   More Info   Stats  
 
<< prev. poem Poems by Maya Angelou : 13 / 20 next poem >>
  
 
Share |

 
The Detached

User Rating:

6.9 /10
(81 votes)



  We die,
Welcoming Bluebeards to our darkening closets,
Stranglers to our outstretched necks,
Stranglers, who neither care nor
care to know that
DEATH IS INTERNAL.

We pray,
Savoring sweet the teethed lies,
Bellying the grounds before alien gods,
Gods, who neither know nor
wish to know that
HELL IS INTERNAL.

We love,
Rubbing the nakednesses with gloved hands,
Inverting our mouths in tongued kisses,
Kisses that neither touch nor
care to touch if
LOVE IS INTERNAL.

Maya Angelou


Share |


 
  Comments about this poem (The Detached by Maya Angelou )
Click here to write your comments about this poem (The Detached by Maya Angelou )
 
  Debra Cowley  (6/21/2009 7:54:00 AM)

I love this meditation of concept of detachment of death and life and the hell of dying and not knowing. She is so true of prayer in God what did it do for my final day may I reach behond to find my resting place from Idols here on earth.
  Ka-tapella Deal  (12/21/2008 12:18:00 PM)

For me, this is my favorite poem from Maya Angelou from what i have read of her so far.
I think it can be taken many ways but for me it means that the most important feelings come from inside, and can be controlled inside.

You can be dead inside and alive outside, so death is something we can bring upon ourselves, and internal death is much worse than external death, it could possibly be the only death. If we stretch our necks to stranglers inside, we can be our own stranglers, but for me it also means that no one can kill you but yourself, which is a comforting thought because the only death that matters is internal and people outside who try to break you down can't.
'stranglers, who neither care nor
care to know that...' For me this talks about the complete disregard of humanity and it's nature, who are likened to pirates and murderers trying to slowly kill us (there is an undertone of a slow process) , however they haven't got enough self-respect to realise that what their doing is pointless, for death is internal. These peolple don't think about the consequences or the reasons, they just eat away at people for themselves which says something about their state of mind. I believe it is also saying that breaking other people down and trying to cause other peoples internal deaths is a biproduct of the stranglers and bluebeards internal deaths.

The second stanza also speaks the same thing but is saying that people talk about God and they try and hide lies, and beg for forgiveness, but hell being internal means that they need internal forgiveness and an internal peace and truth that they eventually cannot hide from themselves. Internal hell which, as maya angelou may be trying to say, is worse than the hell of the Gods, and it is more important to be real with yourself.

This last stanza is the most uplifting in my opinion. There is no love if there is no internal love. So no one can love you if you don't love yourself; and so many people in society try and look for this external love in the wrong way-constant sex and relationships, and external love is nothing compared to internal love. I also think it has an undertone of exposing the soul eroding consequences and pointlessness of promiscuity: 'gloved hands, inverting, tongued kisses, neither touch nor care to touch if' everything has a barrier, unable to reach the inside properly, even though it tries. The 'neither care to touch' part makes me think that they aren't wanting internal love, they don't want to love themselves they just want to try and receive it from an external place which is the wrong way to love and the wrong use of relationships. The most important relationship is the one with your soul.
  Existential Despair  (7/14/2008 9:01:00 AM)

I have a feeling, reading this poem that perharps, we hide so much of the actaual reality inside ourselves and so even beauty, is unseen.
  Nisbith Abdu  (3/31/2008 3:28:00 AM)

why are u so internal..what bout the external world..?
  Ruth Ngungi  (11/21/2007 8:15:00 AM)

Funny! .................................
  Yoonoos Peerbocus  (6/12/2007 10:51:00 AM)

internal life is well depicted
  Adryan Rotica  (6/19/2005 6:01:00 PM)

Maya, if this is YOU.....you are my inspiration and such a treasure of a human being....beautiful words mistress.

Read all 7 comments >>
 
  People who read Maya Angelou

 
 
  Classic poets in PoemHunter.Com:

      The complete list >>

 
  Top 500 Poems

  1. Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou
  2. Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
  3. If You Forget Me by Pablo Neruda
  4. Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
  5. Dreams by Langston Hughes
  6. i carry your heart with me by ee cummings
  7. I Do Not Love You Except Because I Love You by Pablo Neruda
  8. Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe
  9. The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost
  10. I Crave Your Mouth, Your Voice, Your Hair by Pablo Neruda
  11. Television by Roald Dahl
  12. One Inch Tall by Shel Silverstein
  13. Warning by Jenny Joseph
  14. As I Grew Older by Langston Hughes
  15. A Dream Within A Dream by Edgar Allan Poe
  16. Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
  17. If by Rudyard Kipling
  18. On the Ning Nang Nong by Spike Milligan
  19. Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes
  20. "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud" by William Wordsworth
  21. Alone by Edgar Allan Poe
  22. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
  23. The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes
  24. Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Dylan Thomas
  25. All That is Gold Does Not Glitter by JRR Tolkien
The complete list of Top 500 Poems >>
  Top 500 Poets

  1. Pablo Neruda
  2. Langston Hughes
  3. Maya Angelou
  4. Charles Bukowski
  5. ee cummings
  6. Shel Silverstein
  7. William Shakespeare
  8. Dylan Thomas
  9. Spike Milligan
  10. Billy Collins
  11. Emily Dickinson
  12. Khalil Gibran
  13. Sylvia Plath
  14. Dorothy Parker
  15. Elizabeth Bishop
  16. Ted Hughes
  17. Roald Dahl
  18. Robert Frost
  19. Walt Whitman
  20. Allen Ginsberg
  21. William Blake
  22. Edgar Allan Poe
  23. Mary Oliver
  24. Robert Browning
  25. William Wordsworth
The complete list of Top 500 Poets >>
 
 
  E-MAIL THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND
Found this page interesting? Recommend it to your friend!     Your E-mail:    Friend's Email:      
 

(c) Poems are the property of their respective owners. All information has been reproduced here for educational and informational purposes to benefit site visitors, and is provided at no charge..  About Us | Copyright notice | Privacy statement | Help
11/21/2009 4:23:38 PM. #.34# You Are Here: The Detached by Maya Angelou

Home | Poets | Poems | Free Poetry eBooks | Contests | Sites | Submit a Poem | Manage Your Poems | GameGar | Contact Us

Christmas Poems | Love Poems | Pablo Neruda | Death Poems | Sad Poems | Birthday Poems | Wedding Poems | Annabel Lee | Sorry Poems