When Marnie Hit The Wall Poem by David Welch

When young Marnie was known by most for beauty few could match,
by looks alone many declared the woman was a catch.
And like most girls who are so blessed, she knew just what she had,
knew what she could get away with by making men feel glad.
Marnie spent most of her twenties having fun playing the field,
one man after another, yes, she felt no need to yield.
She was an empowered woman living in modern times,
why shouldn't she go have some fun and see what she could find?
Her hook-ups were just simple things, not men she would call ‘dear, '
besides, she had not time for that in her fast-paced career.

There were times near her thirties when she thought she might change,
but saw her sister mobbed by kids, and that just seemed deranged.
Give up champagne and city-life for Walmart and screaming kids?
Her sister must be stupid to chose doing what she did.
She had no room for such a life in her apartment small,
and it wasn't feminist to answer motherhood's call.

And so her fun continued on into her early thirties,
she still had fun taking home guys, though not quite as many.
It was harder to get noticed when she went out to bars,
until at thirty-four she found a stud they called Omar.
He was a year of two younger, and had a high-pay job,
she figured she could tie him down, leave other women robbed.
But whenever she brought up long-term, he would shy away,
and much as she tried with her charms, he decided not to stay.

Then Marnie sat, at thirty-six, and felt a creeping fear,
she felt the clock ticking away, with marriage nowhere near.
Her dating became more frantic with the passage of time,
she'd settle for a decent man, but nowhere cold she find
a fellow who would marry her, she just seemed out of luck,
and by the time she reached forty she had just given up.
For a year of two after she wallowed in misery,
and when she looked to her old friends, everywhere she could see
children in their early teens, and families running deep.
The sight of it struck at her soul, and cost her lots of sleep.
And despite all that she felt, it still took a while
for her even to think she may have wanted a child.

But by then it was much too late to think about such things,
the thought of what she missed out on now left her despairing.
She had forty more years of life, now doomed to walk alone,
she'd always though herself quite smart, so how had she not known?
Jane Austen had written novels about this very fear,
about tying down a good man before the fade of years.

She'd talk to friends about all this, and quickly say two trends,
the ones with children felt pity, the singles would not bend.
They'd still insist that woman did not need men or family,
and when Marnie raised up her doubts, they'd screech fanatically.
At least then Marine understood where she had gone so wrong,
she had lived life by their playbook, and marched right to their song.
She'd never stopped to ask herself: Are the feminists off-track?
It all looked so damn obvious now when she looked back.
They had led her to loneliness, to put off marriage's call,
until now it was much too late, no time remained at all.
No man's strong arms, no little feet, no grandchildren when gray;
like oh-so-many ‘strong woman' she would just fade away…

The realization made Marnie face a hard, unpleasant choice:
Should she try to ignore these thoughts, or speak and give them voice?
Many people would just keep it all to themselves inside,
but having spent this long in the dark, that just felt like a lie.
So she made an internet show, a place where she could speak,
and when she put it upa whole bunch of people freaked.
On social medica her friends avoided her like the plague,
and when her video went big the feminists did rage.
She'd known the net was a bit rough, but not quite to this scale,
‘Nazi, ' ‘Fascist, ' ‘Woman-hater' were the words that some did rail.

Yes, the cancel culture did emerge, and came hard for her,
but she took it as a good sign, she was causing a stir.
Day after day she would pump out videos speaking truth,
wanting to keep nothing hidden from older female youths.
Explained it was impossible to go and have it all,
that men don't looked at woman much once they're hit that wall,
that this was human nature and was not going to change,
and if they wanted families they'd have to rearrange
a few of their priorities, and maybe put things off.
The more she spoke about these things, the more feminists scoffed.
They finally complained so much that they got Marnie banned,
but, alas, it was too late, and they did not understand…

Marnie's work had gone viral, she had built a following,
and the internet is a sneaky, ever-shifting thing.
When big tech sites would ban her, she would just move somewhere else,
and continue on with her mission, the truth of things to tell.
eventually donations were enough for her to live,
and she found great happiness in using her words to give.
She learned to brush off the haters because when she would read
listeners offering their thanks, she knew there was a need.
It was not the life she dreamed of, or of feminist shills,
but helping other women out made Marnie feel fulfilled.