LIVING IN THESE TIMES

I.
Living in these times
Is like standing in  sinking sands
What we were taught and fought as crimes
…are now morals youngsters sing in many bands
Good morals are worth no pesewas nor dimes
No elder really understands
… happenings in these times


II.
We were taught to stand
When elders board buses
We were taught to understand
… listening to adult conversations as moral loses
We were taught to listen and not talk
…when adults talk, we shouldn’t even try to walk
Hands behind us as we stand
Mouths only open to say we understand
But the mouths of youngsters are guns with bullets shooting
With their pride and egos always ready for a slashing
What at all is happening in these times?

III.
We were taught to greet
…all who we meet
We were taught we can be beaten
…by all adults who see us wilding or cheating
We were taught to eat
…what we were given
We were taught to love worship and studies
We feared our teachers’  shadows even more than ‘atemuda’ and did assignments as they were given
What do we see in these times?

IV.
Now teachers are taught by students
Sometimes beaten to a pulp with cameras gleefully watching
Now good morals shame their doers
Forcing hearts to hail criminals and crime-brewers
It is now a competitive sport-
…child upbringing
And not a collective community responsibility

V.
Touch another’s child and you call for bees
…which will sting and fling you to shreds
Straighten a student as a teacher and prison will buy you tortuous beds
Young eyes are glued, always on screens
Young minds know more
…more than adult beings
Before a word walks from an adult’s tongue
…hundreds of sentences will be running from a young tongue
Insults are their draft
Insubordination is their craft
The love of money has made many daft
What at all is happening in these times?

VI.
Sakawa or is it scamming?
Stealing or is it robbery?
Hookup and crook-ups are their cook-outs
Rituals or spiritual consultations?
Riding recklessly like the hardcore mentally challenged
Driving recklessly like beasts with no parentage
Challenging recklessly like serial killers let loose
… And calling our bluff!
These youngsters are like secateurs, guns and bombs
…in these times!

VII.
What about the drugs which torch their minds?
What about the reds and the dreads and the smokes
…which turns them into jokes?
What about the madness and the queerness?
What about terminal illnesses and anxious distresses?
What about the projections of a falling nation?
Do we sit and die knowing our world can fall to this?
Do we talk the walk or talk to stop without solutions for a fix?
What are the solutions to these times?

VIII.
We need to feed our seeds with deeds
…which can grow to model good beads
We need to decree and block wrong paths
Knowing these wrecks can pave wrong paths
We need to love our young so well
Sticking to elders nannying their minds
Elderly homes are alien and cruel
But they also strip us of the experiences so cool
We need these minds
To direct well our young
…and help shape them
…in these times
Amoafowaa Sefa Cecilia © September 3, 2026.