PoemHuman Family
Author / PoetMaya Angelou
TagsBlack, China, Difference, Different Thoughts

I note the obvious differences
in the human family.
Some of us are serious,
some thrive on comedy.

Some declare their lives are lived
as true profundity,
and others claim they really live
the real reality.

The variety of our skin tones
can confuse, bemuse, delight,
brown and pink and beige and purple,
tan and blue and white.

I’ve sailed upon the seven seas
and stopped in every land,
I’ve seen the wonders of the world
not yet one common man.

I know ten thousand women
called Jane and Mary Jane,
but I’ve not seen any two
who really were the same.

Mirror twins are different
although their features jibe,
and lovers think quite different thoughts
while lying side by side.

We love and lose in China,
we weep on England’s moors,
and laugh and moan in Guinea,
and thrive on Spanish shores.

We seek success in Finland,
are born and die in Maine.
In minor ways we differ,
in major we’re the same.

I note the obvious differences
between each sort and type,
but we are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

We are more alike, my friends,
than we are unalike.

Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou
4 Apr 1928 - 28 May 2014
Region: North America
Period: Contemporary
Movement: Black Arts Movement
Awards: Grammy Awards, National Medal of Arts, Presidential Medal of Freedom

more poems by Maya Angelou

Poem NameTopic
The Week of DianaColor, Crown, Humor
The Rock Cries Out To Us TodayDarkness, Destiny, Floor
The TravellerHome, Night, Store
The Black Family PledgeAncestor, Children, Cry
When I Think About MyselfFolk, Joke, Lying
When Great Trees FallBloom, Die, Fall
We Had HimMoon, Style, Summer
They Went HomeHip, Home, Lip
These Yet To Be United StatesAnger, Curse, Fear
Son to MotherIgnorance, Land, Soul

all poems by Maya Angelou

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