Poem: "Continue" by Maya Angelou

My wish for you
Is that you continue
         Continue


To be who and how you are
To astonish a mean world
With your acts of kindness
         Continue


To allow humor to lighten the burden
Of your tender heart
         Continue


In a society dark with cruelty
To let the people hear the grandeur
Of God in the peals of your laughter
          Continue


To let your eloquence
Elevate the people to heights
They had only imagined
         Continue


To remind the people that
Each is as good as the other
And that no one is beneath
Nor above you
        Continue


To remember your own young years
And look with favor upon the lost
And the least and the lonely
        Continue


To put the mantel of your protection
Around the bodies of
The young and defenseless
        Continue


To take the hand of the despised
And diseased and walk proudly with them
In the high street
Some might see you and
Be encouraged to do likewise
         Continue


To plant a public kiss of concern
On the cheek of the sick
And the aged and infirm
And count that as a
Natural action to be expected
         Continue


To let gratitude be the pillow
Upon which you kneel to
Say your nightly prayer
And let faith be the bridge
You build to overcome evil
And welcome good
       Continue


To ignore no vision
Which comes to enlarge your range
And increase your spirit
       Continue


To dare to love deeply
And risk everything
For the good thing
       Continue


To float
Happily in the sea of infinite substance
Which set aside riches for you
Before you had a name
       Continue


And by doing so
You and your work
Will be able to continue
Eternally