The truth of the statement

[sitifan]

"What you looking at me for? I didn't come to stay..."

I hadn't so much forgot as I couldn't bring myself to remember. Other things were more important.

"What you looking at me for? I didn't come to stay..."

Whether I could remember the rest of the poem or not was immaterial.
The truth of the statement was like a wadded-up handkerchief, sopping wet in my fists, and the sooner
they accepted it the quicker they could let my hands open and the air would cool my palms. '

Source: I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou
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What does "the statement" refer to?

 

[emsr2d2]

Sitifan, note that I have changed your thread title so that it includes the words you are asking us about, and I have moved the source to directly after the quote, where it should always appear.

 

[probus]

I think it's impossible to say what the statement is without more context. But, sitifan, I'm not asking for more context. To me Maya Angelou and Marcel Proust are similar -- they may know, but they are going to make the rest of us read a LOT of books to find out.