In the poem we see how a Black person suffers in a White-dominated society. The poem is a dramatic monologue. Only the mother is speaking and the son is just listening. The mother tells her son that her life had not been very smooth. The steps she had to climb were broken here and there and she had to be careful not to fall down. The floor is not carpeted showing that life had been very rough for her. But in spite of all the problems she faced, she had been steadily climbing and reaching landings. Sometimes she had been walking in darkness without any light at all. She had to negotiate dangerous bends.
She is telling her son never to feel disappointed and turn back. He should not sit down on the steps even though he might find them hard to climb on. He should be careful not to fall down. In the end she tells her son that all her life she had been climbing in spite of all the problems and she is still climbing.
