Dis Poem

Mutabaruka’s “Dis Poem” is a work that brings up some controversial ideas. Its patronizing tone as well as the listing of African American leaders and conflicts in said country as well highlights the meaning of the work as one for justice. The repetition of the words “dis poem” mend to create an identity for the poem, and yet a very intricate one seeing as ‘dis poem’ “shall say nothing” and yet contradicts itself and “shall speak of time.” It will “not change things”, “it “has to be changed.” “Dis poem is still not written.” These then demonstrate that poem is a mixture of contradictions, it is a form of time—most likely the present and the future—and it is still not written because while it talks of the past, it begs for another way to bring about the future. A future that does not involve “knives…bombs…guns” like the past did, but that “has to be changed.” The poem is the rebirth of a people arising...awaking...overstanding."
It is sometimes self-mocking, patronizing, and subtly judgmental of the reader, which leads to infer that the reader has to do with most of the past atrocities. The particular rhyme only present when describing “time” accentuates the importance of time in the work. It describes it as “undefined”. And undefined is basically the gist of the entire poem. It is confusing and yet at the same time it’s trying to convey the message that “Dis Poem” is not really a poem. It hasn’t been written, and it “has no poet” and it shall be called, ‘boring’ and ‘stupid’ and ‘senseless’. The poem is “to continue in your mind.” It is urging the reader to write their own poem, to make their own future a better one, to act. The poem is whatever moral values and whatever conscience we hope to obtain in the future. “Dis Poem” is a plea to learn from previous mistakes in the past, and change the prospect of making the same mistakes in the future.