Famous Children Poem

Maya Angelou, an inspirational American poet, crafted a poem from a child’s perspective about all the frightening things in her world. Although this poem showcases many things that frighten a child, the greater theme in this poem is that no matter the obstacles we face in life, we can overcome them. The repetition of “life doesn’t frighten me at all” reinforces that theme.

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I think this is a really good poem because it teaches kids not to give up and hide in the shadows and actually express themselves.

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Famous Poem

Life Doesn't Frighten Me

Maya Angelou By more Maya Angelou

Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hall
Life doesn't frighten me at all

Bad dogs barking loud
Big ghosts in a cloud
Life doesn't frighten me at all

Mean old Mother Goose
Lions on the loose
They don't frighten me at all

Dragons breathing flame
On my counterpane
That doesn't frighten me at all.

I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won't cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Tough guys fight
All alone at night
Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Panthers in the park
Strangers in the dark
No, they don't frighten me at all.

That new classroom where
Boys all pull my hair
(Kissy little girls
With their hair in curls)
They don't frighten me at all.

Don't show me frogs and snakes
And listen for my scream,
If I'm afraid at all
It's only in my dreams.

I've got a magic charm
That I keep up my sleeve
I can walk the ocean floor
And never have to breathe.

Life doesn't frighten me at all
Not at all
Not at all.

Life doesn't frighten me at all.

Maya Angelou reads Life Doesn't Frighten Me

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Has this poem touched you? Share your story!
  • Hannah Malinak by Hannah Malinak
  • 6 months ago

This poem makes me feel so confident, like I can look all the scary things in life in the face and stomp on them. It makes them look silly even though they aren't.

  • Rylee by Rylee
  • 1 year ago

I love this poem. It's heart-touching, and since I'm a kid, it helped me a lot.

  • Izaiah Lamal Oquendo West by Izaiah Lamal Oquendo West
  • 2 years ago

I think this is a really good poem because it teaches kids not to give up and hide in the shadows and actually express themselves.

  • Chloe by Chloe
  • 3 years ago

Maya Angelou may be dead, but her kids' poems are forever! Long live the kids' poetry of Maya Angelou!

  • Thenuka Bouteju by Thenuka Bouteju
  • 3 years ago

This is a wonderful poem. It talks about stuff that most children are scared about, and it has a moral too, which is life is hard but no matter what don't give up.

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