The title of the poem is a rallying point.
“The Youths have Spoken, Just Loosen” takes a direct jibe at powers that be.
This poem transcends borders and speaks of a new wave where the youths have made a bold resolve to claim their destinies. The opening line, the youth said: we are old enough to know is clearly indicative of a liberative force that has dawned. It is a dawn of a new era where the youth are clamouring to be weaned.
In the lines that follow, the poem specifically delves into some sort of resistance to the status quo and advocates for a change. They see the old as divisive, selfish, and above all, power-hungry. The poem is an unequivocal construct of resilience and focus on a brighter future that lies ahead. The poem is a direct reprimand of the old to desist from holding on to power while destroying the future.
Commentary by Professor Ngugi Wamkirii
The eight stanza poem by Ndaba Sibanda on “Youth have spoken” consists of the deliberate four stanzas of two lines and four lines of three stanzas. The intention of the two-line stanzas is to convey a definite meaning of ‘the youth’ and ‘the old’ which are repeated to highlight in order for the audience know the particular type of the youth and old people who are being addressed by the poem.
The use of the definite article ‘the’ brings the meaning close and tight. Also, the constant repetition of ‘ old and odd’ shows that the old people being addressed are a challenge and not too easy to handle by youth and audience.
Also, there is a hidden meaning in the use of four stanzas, which have three lines each ‘the sickening selfishness … (first three-line stanzas); animate (second three-line stanza); (…the spirit of humanity or Ubuntu questioned, (third line stanza) … ruin (in the fourth line stanza).
The hidden meaning is intentional. It suggests that the youth, the old and the mighty (who also happen to be a sick people!)— need to articulate and live the dream of humanity, collectively or individually, as the changing personas of the Ubuntu philosophy could turn out to a ruin for all of them.
The poet submits that this space in which the youth seek to engage the old and odd is a representation of a project of ‘hope and pain’.
The poem narrates the story of the polarised Zimbabwe polity which pits the youth against the old, and yet stakes seem to favour the old and the odd who have a habit of greedily flexing their muscles to defend their personal interests and hold on power.
Commentary by Qinisela Possent Ndlovu
