19 years young

my whole life, which is much shorter
than most people who write these kinds of things
i have been questioning why things are
why must i work hard to get the things i want
why do i need nice things, pretty things

why cant young people know everything
why must we learn through experience
if everything we need to learn in life
we learn in kindergarden

i often think people living in africa have life better
even though faced with poverty and hunger
because they dont have to question
question why like i have to

all their problems are easy
"i need food and shelter" they say
they need not why because everythings simple
they eat they live, they dont they die

they never caused coperate greed
or killing of the ozone layer
maybe we're better off not questioning why
but having things simple

i sure would sleep better nightly
having my concerns bottled up
condensed to just survival
but what do i know

i'm only nineteen

Reviews

[Caydie Hall]

you're amazing. i feel like everything gets complicated when it's so easy to survive. we forget that living is a short and fast thing, so we get caught up in progress and rules, when in reality all that matters is this moment that you are alive. are you fed? are you happy? those are always most important

[Stephanie]

Absolutely amazing and totally true. I never thought about it like this- how those in Africa have it better in a way because all they have to think about is how to survive and we in America are concerned about how many "pretty things" we own. That's a pretty genius way to throw things into perspective.

"why cant young people know everything
why must we learn through experience
if everything we need to learn in life
we learn in kindergarden"

That's so true. We learn must of our basic needs in kindergarten, yet we go on worrying about things that are pale in comparison to what people in Africa go through. I can't even find the right words to describe how this makes me feel and how brilliant it was. Fantastic job :]

[Two Friends]

Wow...i agree with you...life would be so much easier if we lived like people in Africia...all they worry about is how to get food and shelter...we worry about so many other things...we just dont know how to live life to the fullest...and really doesnt matter how old you are...we still will never understand why things happen..and we will always ask questions....most are without answers.
Great Job

[feline_fairy]

Bless you - and not to be too negative, but it doesn't get easier as you get older. I'm 30 and I can still relate to this. I think the difference is, and you can tell from your writing, that you are young enough to question everything, and to try and make changes for the better, whereas by now I've got to the stage of acceptance.

I love where you say you think people are better off in Africa. This is really bold and brave, and really thought provoking. I'd never really thought of it like that before, but reading it in your poem really made me think. you're absolutely right, although on a physical level they are much much worse off than us in our western comfort, their problems are more tangible and less abstract. They don't have to worry about wearing the right clothes, saying the right things, making friends with the right people, deciding whether to go to University or get a job. On some level their lives are simpler, though as you refer to in your line even though faced with poverty and hunger, although it's simpler it's still not great.

Life is hard - no matter who or where you are and you hit this right on the head.

You shouldn't be anonymous, you should be proud to claim ownership of this poem as it's one of the best I've read in ages.

My friend is an English teacher and always looking for new poems to use in his classes - if it's OK with you, I may show him this and see if he wants to use it. I think it would be great for his teenagers to look at.