Saturday, October 27, 2012

Mary White




Growing up in Emporia             


As I grew up in Emporia—
I was often accused by the stodgy
Townsfolk of being haughty

Haughty and insolent—
As well as being Uppity which was
Simply Unacceptable for Women then

Women, Chicanos and Blacks—
Even former liberated Slaves who
Came to Kansas as a Freedom State

Nobody was allowed to Act as if—
They were Equal to the G. A. R. ladies
And the Daughters of the Revolution

They would pound away at the piano—
And proudly sing for hours “John Brown's
Body Lies A-Mouldering In The Grave”

Down in the Plumb Mansion basement—
Where the good ladies had their rousing
Church socials to celebrate the Past

But nobody else in Emporia was allowed—
To Tout and Strut their Freedom or their
Equal Rights in Straitlaced back then

____________________________________

Conversational Portrait


I would get into these long arguments—
With Daddy Dearest sitting around the
Fire late at night talking about Emporia:
_____________________

Mary White: “I should never mistake—
Freedom for insolence. One, I rather like;
The other, no Emporia would submit to.”

“Surely not even for a salary”

William Allen White: “Humbug, Mary!—
Most Emporians whether freeborn or not
Would submit to anything for a salary!”
_______________

William Allen White: “Perhaps I put my—
Requests in an absurd way. The fact is once
and for all, I don’t treat women as an inferior”

“I've had many varied experiences, Mary—
With many men of many nations and roved
Over this vast old globe full of sorrows”

“While you've spent your whole life alone—
With one set of people in one little town and
Now you want to change the whole world?”

“Don't you agree it gives me the right—
To be masterful and abrupt with you and
Perhaps even call you rather naïve, dear?”

Mary White: “Do as you please—
My Daddy Dearest, since you pretty
Much run the town of Emporia”

“Everybody listens to what you say—
Harding, Coolidge and even Teddy
Roosevelt visit us here at Red Rocks”

“But you and I both know that—
Women, Chicanos and the Blacks get
The short end of the stick in Emporia”




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