“Touched by An Angel”
by Maya Angelou
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.
We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love’s light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.
YOUR TURN: In the comment section below, please post the name of one of your favorite poets / poem.
Kimberly Blackadar 
One of my favorite poets is unpublished, so you cannot buy her book…yet. Her name is Michelle, and I will feature her poem this week. 🙂
Good choice, Kimberly. Michelle puts depth into her poetry.
Notice how I said “one,” John? You, of course, are another of my favorie poets. I was astounded yesterday at your ability to comment in perfect poetic form.
This is one of my favorites as well. The depth of this message speaks from behind the words.
Thank you for posting this beautiful poem!
Thank you for your response, Lindsey, and I’m glad I posted one of your favorites. I look forward to featuring your poetry in the coming weeks.
I enjoy Shakespeare’s sonnets. I also find Emily Dickinson to be interesting. I was searching for a good poem, and looking for one I read in my senior year English class.
Tyler, Shakespeare and Dickinson are two of my favorites as well. Thanks for commenting. It’s good to “hear” from you!
Two things I really like are getting turned on to new music/artists and new poems/poets. So I don’t know that I really have a favorite poem because another one will come along and then it’s: oooh, I love that! and then that’s my new favorite for awhile. One of my favorites is “Clooney the Clown” by Shel Silverstein.
Michael, thanks for commenting on the blog.
I agree with you: I have many favorite poets / poems as well. Sometimes a poem just fits my mood at the time.
My favorite poet is the one and only Nikki Giovanni.
Diane, thanks for responding again today. I’ll have to read something by Nikki Giovanni today.
Beautiful. All of Robert Louis Stevenson’s poems.
That is why I love NPM, Beverly. We can share about our favorite poetry for 30 days. Thanks for stopping by. I am always happy to see your comments on the blog. 🙂
I’ve not been able to secure poetry by Maya Angelou in OZ so far. “Touched by an Angel”, is hauntingly beautiful !
Michelle introduced me to Edna St. Vincent Millay; I read her “Selected Poetry”.
“RENASCENCE” is my favorite !!!!
I also adore this line from her poem “Blight”…
‘The light was near, the silence
Was palpitant with sound;’