I think this beautiful poem and the accompanying film were likely inspired by Maya Angelou's classic piece "Still I Rise," which she recites here.

This one is equally inspiring and the visuals are stunning. Enjoy!

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Susan notes: at Christmas, when I was a young girl, my mother used to read me this story from a beautiful picture book.

I remember how it made me feel at once terribly sad and tearfully joyful.

I could imagine the poor little girl cold and alone, seeking comfort from a few matches, the only possesions she had...

I've got the children to tend
The clothes to mend
The floor to mop
The food to shop
Then the chicken to fry
The baby to dry
I got company to feed
The garden to weed
I've got shirts to press
The tots to dress

Susan notes: This poem is dedicated to lives cut short because of struggle, violence, illness, poverty, neglect, fear, hatred, conflict, and for no apparent reason other than they were called by angels, anywhere and everywhere in the world, yesterday, today, tomorrow and always, as well as to relationships and years gone by, not that we should forget them, but that they should become the fertile ground in which we sow the seeds of the future.