 A Song Flung Up to Heaven ( 2002 ) is the sixth of Maya Angelou 's series of autobiographies , and at the time of its publication it was considered to be the final installment . It was completed 16 years after the publication of her previous autobiography , All God 's Children Need Traveling Shoes ( 1986 ) and over thirty years after the publication of her first , I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings . Angelou wrote two collections of essays in the interim , Wouldn 't Take Nothing for My Journey Now ( 1993 ) and Even the Stars Look Lonesome ( 1997 ) , which writer Hilton Als called her " wisdom books " and " homilies strung together with autobiographical texts " . She also continued her poetry with several volumes , including a collection of her poems , The Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou ( 1994 ) . In 1993 , Angelou recited her poem On the Pulse of Morning at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton , becoming the first poet to make an inaugural recitation since Robert Frost at John F. Kennedy 's inauguration in 1961 . Her recitation resulted in more fame and recognition for her previous works , and broadened her appeal " across racial , economic , and educational boundaries " . 
