SALUTE TO YOUTH
Honourable child do not bow,
To those who are in power now,
Stand up and shout with all your will,
Do not go out with thoughts to kill,
But stand up tall like a tower,
And show them that youth has the power,
To change the world for something new,
This is what youth should do.
Youth join hands across the lands.
Shout out loud for your demands,
And if those demands are not met,
Rally the youth on the net,
Create a blog to join as one,
The youth of the world sing the one same song,
Then the mams and the dads and the old folk too,
Will have to start to taking notice of you.
Analysis and Review of the poem by Okoro Amarachi Anastasia
An impressive poem written by Taxi poet that centered on young people, giving them voice to be heard. This is a poem of sixteen lines with two stanza, each lines contains eight lines. It has rhyme scheme of Ab Ab cd cd ef ef… it contains rhythm. The tone of the speaker is intense as it advocates for the youth. The language is simple and narrative in nature. The theme of the poem on the call for change (in the country) by youths, exercising their will, power and right as the leaders of tomorrow. There is application of poetic devices, such as repetition (of words like youths, demands, shout, etc.), simile (seem line five “But stand up tall like a tower”), imagery, idiomatic expression, etc.
The stanza one of the poem kicked off with a serious statement “Honourable child do not bow, To those who are in power now”, which simply gives the explanation of bad governance and corrupt leaders in political seats. Therefore there is need for change which can only be done by the youths. The stanza only called out how this change should be done, which is in a democratic peace protest that avocate for change not through murder or bloody means. Also, the speaker encourage the youth to stand strong and revealed their power inorder to birth something new.
Stanza two emphasize on unity. The coming together of youths to achieve this goals. The change start from them before others follow their steps. This stanza also pointed out the need for them to stand up for their demands till it is met or attended. The speaker finally ended the poem with the message that the change we seek start from the youth.