Steppin' Out Poem by Marianne Reninger

Steppin' Out



Steppin' Out of the Rank and File,
The All-American Sin...
Enjoy your space,
Enjoy your place,
But don't think of moving
Further up the line.

A Black Face shouldn't Dream
Of being President,
Or demonstrate against the status quo.
It's o.k. to participate,
But stay in your designated place,
You must move exceedingly slow.

A Woman is too shrill
To proclaim power and political will
And lead others up the enemy's hill.
Centuries pass to get the vote.
Years more to try and even the score,
To make 'the weaker sex', just a historical note.

Blowhards and Braggarts
Pop like a Balloon,
When needles of Knowledge
Destroy a Buffoon.
When will reason and sanity reign supreme?
Or is Steppin' Out, still just an American Dream?

Saturday, September 24, 2016
Topic(s) of this poem: courage,discrimination,women empowerment
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Unnikrishnan E S 05 October 2016

Hi Marianne, I enjoyed Your penchant for humour. I know that it is extremely difficult to bring out humour, when you are speaking of such deadly serious issues like gender equality. And equality for women still remains a wild dream anywhere in the world. It should happen in the mindset- of man. India too, where we had i woman prime minister, way back in 1969 (almost half a century back) is no exception. Female foeticide is rampant. Even the most educated and well-placed male does not show respect to the space which a woman deserves. Thank you for posting this poem. Let good things happen!

0 0 Reply
Pamela Sinicrope 04 October 2016

Hi Marianne, I didn't realize you had posted this. I'm not getting email notifications of poems anymore for some reason. You poem has pizzazz and panache! I was just reading a poem by Anne Bradstreet who used similar strategies in a poem she wrote about the equality of the sexes (Prologue) ...your poem points out much of the hypocrisy in our American Way and goes a step further than Bradstreet who kept her poem cloaked in the irony but also played on words to suggest that women are considered inferior. You come out strong in the end to ask the reader when they will have the sense to harness the power in knowledge, reason, and sanity, rather than fear, of the 'shrill voice' or a 'black face.' What does it mean to be American?

2 0 Reply
Seamus O Brian 03 October 2016

Blowhards and Braggarts Pop like a Balloon, When needles of Knowledge Destroy a Buffoon. We can only hope, now can't we? This whole circus has made me question the sanity of America. Well written! :)

2 0 Reply
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