'Young Male Violence' by Rebecca Olayinka
Young Male Violence
The deep cry of a mother
The uncontrollable anguish of the father,
You once rocked your newborn to sleep
Now you must bury them without any peace.
The condolences the deepest sympathies,
I cannot imagine the insurmountable grief
I have barely the words to verbally speak.
I wish I knew what to do, apart from pray
Praying for an end of suffering
Praying that the Holy Spirit will come now and be comforting.
I wrote and questioned, when there would be an end to gender-based violence?
I’m still questioning and now wondering what can we do to end young male violence?
The stabbings, the shootings, the killings, it’s not something we like to think of,
Yet it is happening, in our city and in our country.
What is the reason and what is the cure?
While we watch Instagram and tik tock reels,
While we deal with “adulting”
There are young men out there, scared and suffering.
Seeing their peers die, in the blink of an eye,
There are no goodbyes. No more laughter, no more joy.
No more young brothers, for another life is now destroyed.
Are us grownups the real saboteurs?
We have cut our police services, We make cuts in health,
We ask social care, which is already stretched, for more and more help.
We have cut our resources we have cut our safety
So, what can we do?
I must admit I do not know the fastest answer,
Yet I know it’s up to us adults to invest in our young people,
To tackle the root cause,
So that the epidemic of young male violence is no more.
I wrote this poem (not AI generated) in response to the a video I saw on LinkedIn.
I saw it and it really moved me. I'm not sure how to describe it, without feeling lots of emotions. In essence, it is of a young teenage boys being stabbed by other young teenage boys and dying. There are also the three young teenage boys doing a dance on Tik Tock celebrating that they just killed this young man. I remember thinking how devastated the parents would be and how I cannot begin to imagine what they would be going through.
I don’t have the answers but I know it’s important that we look for solutions together.
I was nervous about sharing this poem but stirrings in my spirit and nudges have convinced me to share - it’s called Young Male Violence.
Written by Rebecca Oluwaseyi
My name is Rebecca-Oluwaseyi and I live in London. I spent many years studying and working in Bristol where I attended UWE Bristol and completed my Social Work Degree. I am a qualified social worker and freelance writer and speaker. I am very passionate about Black Foster Children as I was a care experienced child. I have been very lucky to have my written work featured in 2x books that I have contributed to; Outlanders- Hidden Narratives from Social Workers of Colour & ChickenSoupForTheSoul-I’m Speaking Now: Black Women Share Their Truth in 101 Stories of Love, Courage and Hope.
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