Happy Birthday, Maya Angelou

Today is the birthday of Maya Angelou. How do I know this? I clicked over to the Writers' Almanac site, looking for my Poem-a-Day for Poetry Month. Yes, April is Poetry Month, one of those events celebrated in schools and on publishers' web pages, but really shouldn't poetry be something we think about- celebrate- every day, not just during April?

Here's my favorite quote by Maya Angelou. I've had it tacked up on various corkboards, as I've moved from state to state, house to house, waiting for each house to become home. That's a close-up of my messy board. That's her quote. Can you see it?


You can never go home again, but the truth is you can never leave home, so it's all right.
~Maya Angelou

I love that thought.

And since I kept on clicking and scrolling down the Writers Almanac website, I learned it's also the birthday of blues great Muddy Watters-- (McKinley Morganfield), born in Rolling Fork, Mississippi (1915), who taught himself to play harmonica and guitar. He played in various bands in bars on the south side of Chicago, and in 1950, he made the first recording for Chess Records, a tune called "Rolling Stone." He later became famous for songs like "Hoochie-Koochie Man" and "Got My Mojo Working."

Rolling Fork, Mississippi, right down the road from my real home.


Related posts: Poetry Month, Poetry Month Pt. 2