YOUTH OF TODAY
Are these the leaders of tomorrow?
Who joyfully swim in the pool of liquor.
Who drowns their youthfulness in pits.
As they are enslaved by Nyaope and Heroine.
As they feel school is like jail cell.
Are these the leaders of tomorrow?
Who barely respects elders.
Who are embarrassed to speak their indigenous language.
Who have discarded their tradition and culture.
Who feast on each other without shame,
And proudly planting seeds.
Which then later they discard,
In bins like rotten food.
'cause the system favours them,
For it said at the age of 13, one can abort.
Is these the youth of today?
Born in the democratic country,
Full of poverty.
Garnished with AIDS,
Their eyes only reflects misery.
Their cries only echoing hopelessly.
For they will never grow old,
'cause they were born in this devouring beast world.
Analysis/ Review of the poem.
This is a poem written by Lindokuhle Dawordplaymind Nkosi. A poem of twenty-three lines with three stanzas. There is no systematic arrangement or rhyme scheme. The tone of poet is harsh. The poem is a narrative poem with concise words. The poem focus on ills and negative behaviors associated with the youth of today which It’s a poem that made a constructive criticism on the 21st century youth, which he titled his poem youth of today. Bringing the questions “what is nature of the youths of this present era”, “their behavior / character”, “how they choose to live their lives”. From the poets tone and language. There is a sense of disappointment and bitterness that youth of today are not what they are suppose to be. The poet is point out the problems / flaws/ attitude/ lifestyle with the intent to bring about genuine change out of them.
Let look into the analysis of the poem.
The first stanza depict the type/kind of youth we have in our society that is attributed to possess a negative behavior. Drinking, taking drugs and missing schools. The first line started with a question of “Are these the leaders of tomorrow?. It question what the youth of today are worthy to be called the leaders of tomorrow, which the poem stated their deficiencies and challenges that answer the questions. In same stanza, the words Nyaope or Heroine was used to point to the hard drug or substance they take which make high and out of control. Nyaope is a form of black tar heroin, sometimes mixed with other substances, that came into widespread use in South Africa in 2009. Whoonga dealers often sell the drug as a super-powerful marijuana blend. It is very harmful to human system. This what youth take to self pleasure.
The first stanza depict the type/kind of youth we have in our society that is attributed to possess a negative behavior. Drinking, taking drugs and missing schools. The first line started with a question of “Are these the leaders of tomorrow?. It question what the youth of today are worthy to be called the leaders of tomorrow, which the poem stated their deficiencies and challenges that answer the questions. In same stanza, the words Nyaope or Heroine was used to point to the hard drug or substance they take which make high and out of control. Nyaope is a form of black tar heroin, sometimes mixed with other substances, that came into widespread use in South Africa in 2009. Whoonga dealers often sell the drug as a super-powerful marijuana blend. It is very harmful to human system. This what youth take to self pleasure.
Stanza two of the opens the bad characters youths of today emit. Lack of respect for their elders and moral values. They don’t regards their traditions and custom. They lost their origin and history. They have embraced western culture and cannot proudly identify their origin. It is quite sad that they can’t even speak their dialect. The poet observation in stanza is similar to what we see among youth in Africa setting.
Stanza three and four of the poem started with a different question that says “Is these the youth of today? Stanza three plainly focus on the failure of the government or country where these youths lives. They live a life of abject poverty and faces financial hardship in their country. A life of hopeless dream because of their bad government and the economic situation of the country. This is proven to be true africa countries where democracy is dead. They have a high rate of sickness (like AlDs) and disease and a poor standard of living.
The summary of the poem is to bring about a drastic change in lives of the youth and creating a favorable environment for them to strive and have a better future.
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