Analysis of Who Are We?

Jabulani Mhlaoli 1998 (Sebokeng)



From the dark forces of the past,
that has hidden the fossils of our forefathers;
hoping we find no meaning
within ourselves -
We seem lost,
a disconnection from our roots
has landed us here,
rooting for Shakespeare;
diluting our own atmosphere
with dire stains from the West,
Who are we?
__
Descendants of the future,
Inside me hangs a picture
never perfect but
convincingly worthy
of your attention -
Between the cracks
of yesterday,
today and tomorrow
lies a prayer
for better days -
But the days
keep worsening
every other passing day;
Uprooted,
Who are we?
__
Now that our forefathers
have resorted to the spiritual world,
they exist as a separate entity;
While we, on the other hand
seem to have lost our identity -:
We have been westernized
that we can no longer be recognized
by our fellows from other parts of Africa;
Who, exactly are we?


Scheme abcdefgghiJKllmjnopqrsscptJKbujvjwwxj
Poetic Form
Metre 10110101 111001011010 1011110 01001 111 00101101 11011 1011 01010110 111101 111 1 0101010 0111010 10011 010010 11010 0101 110 01001 101 1101 101 1100 10010101 010 111 1 111010 10101010001 1011010100 1110101 1111100100 11110 111110110 1101011011100 101011
Closest metre Iambic trimeter
Characters 812
Words 151
Sentences 3
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 37
Lines Amount 37
Letters per line (avg) 18
Words per line (avg) 4
Letters per stanza (avg) 674
Words per stanza (avg) 151

About this poem

This piece, reflects on the roots of the Africans, the ancestral roots, to be precise, forgotten by people of my country.

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Written on July 27, 2021

Submitted by Mhlaoli on July 27, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

45 sec read
4

Jabulani Mhlaoli

Jabulani Mhlaoli is a young South African born poet who found his way to poetry back in 2015 and has since been inspired to write more. His work is mostly about his life, the upbringing, the struggles and the trenches he had to go through from an early age. more…

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