A talk with the homeless Teenager- Poem Analysis
‘A talk with the homeless’ is a poem written by Simon Asiimwe. It is free verse, which means it has an irregular rhyme or meter. ‘A talk with the homeless Teenager’ is a poem about the point of view of the poet who encounters a homeless teenager living on the streets. He is then stopped by this helpless teenager who questions him about the existence of the less fortunate like himself. The teenage boy is found on the wrong side of town, in a corridor, surrounded by old paper, boxes and tins. He is living a tough life and it seems as if no one cares in his point of view. There are many theme conveyed in the poem. A main theme is that we should never take anything for granted. We should be grateful for the little things in life, as there are many people out there without a roof above their head. Another very important theme that Asiimwe wanted to communicate to the readers is that we should love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We should not only think about ourselves in life but also those who have nothing to begin with. Asiimwe communicates this by using the point of view of the homeless teenager. He wrote it so it made it seem like not only was the teenager questioning the poet, but also to the readers. The feeling of sadness is created in this poem. It is sad because when we see homeless teenagers we often do think of negative things about them. Like how they probably ran away from home or are drug addicts. We then forget about those who didn’t choose to be in that situation. Given they had a different life, things might have turned out differently for them. A language technique used in this poem is imagery. The description of the area in the first few sentences gives a good picture of the surroundings. Because the homeless teenager speaks a majority of the poem it makes it have more meaning and real because this person is actually going through all the things he has said. He is speaking from experience and I think because of this, it has made the poem more affective. I personally like this poem. It makes me think twice when ever I now see a homeless person living on the street. I was reminded that some of them were not drug addicts and alcoholic and didn’t choose to be in this situation. Some simply did not have a choice. This was a poem that touched the heart. By Noratisha Abdullah |
A Talk With A Homeless Teenager
On the day darkened by the thick clouds I traveled aimlessly around the ugly town There in corridor, beneath the lonely street A boy seeming dead lay silently and straight Among the tins, papers and old boxes I moved my hand upon his patched rags And folks passing- by sneered at me standing there Mourning over such they took for thugs When in the end I decided to go The boy rose silently and clang to my feet “listen to my story, a cry of my soul” He said in the voice that rose and fell “Why in the world should one pretend To be molding rules he really can’t amend You and he and she all know People like us only God knows! Dead or livin’ sick or cold The nightly creatures know it all And what have we to eat who cares at all All they sing, peace for all And who care if we too got dreams, All they say reach your goals And here we freeze each night that falls And there they say God for all Love your neighbor as you love your soul A mocking statement to the living souls” Simon Asiimwe |