In & Out of Time by Maya Angelou

The sun has come.
The mist has gone.
We see in the distance...
our long way home.

I was always yours to have.
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out of time.
When the first stone looked up at the blazing sun
and the first tree struggled up from the forest floor

I had always loved you more.
You freed your braids...
gave your hair to the breeze.
It hummed like a hive of honey bees.
I reached in the mass for the sweet honey comb there....
Mmmm...God how I love your hair.

You saw me bludgeoned by circumstance.
Lost, injured, hurt by chance.
I screamed to the heavens....loudly screamed....
Trying to change our nightmares to dreams...
The sun has come.
The mist has gone.
We see in the distance our long way home.
I was always yours to have.
You were always mine.
We have loved each other in and out
in and out
in and out
of time.

I feel this poem is about two slaves who have been taken from their home.  As the morning skies clear up, they both can see that home is farther and farther away.  They haven't left home of their own free will.  They’ve been ripped from their homes and everything familiar to them.  They are frightened.  Both are trying to be strong and support the other. 

One of them is reflecting on moments in time and his feelings in that moment.  These memories play in his mind like a movie reinforcing his love for her and giving him the strength to continue on.  He feels as though they have been together since the beginning of time.  He can’t remember a time in his life when she was not by his side. 

She was so young when they met.  He was only a few years her elder but life had matured him well beyond his years.  She came to rely upon him and him upon her – each drawing strength from the other.  Life can be difficult but as long as they were together, they could endure anything.  They have survived since the beginning of time.

Unfortunately, she bears witness to him bludgeoned.  He is unable to keep his pain inside.  He yells and screams out loud looking up at the heavens.  Why me?  Why me?  Together they try to surpass these unforgiving moments.  Each time he begins to make their dreams a reality, something gets in his way and their dreams are lost – over and over again. 

Now they have been torn from their home; torn from everything that has any meaning to them; torn from their reality; torn from their lives.  He feels as though he has failed her.  She feels he is her hero.  He will always be her hero.  As they look together into the distance, they know their love for each other will be forever.