Young Adult

By: MrSir Mpho

Your age is that of being too old
And too young at the same time.
The age of being expected to know
But not given slots to act your mind.

The age of feeling like you are old enough
To move out of your parents’ house.
The age of sneaking intimate partners through the lounge,
Into your room, trialling dates to find a spouse.

It’s like you are too young for marriage,
But still too old to play around.
What you usually do to save face –
Barely bails your soul out.

Almost everything about your phase is paradoxical,
Your biggest fights are rather mental than physical.
You try to prove a point more than you try to have a good one.
Nothing matters more than having a clear purpose now.

I understand and empathize fully,
Because I’m going through it.
And as a young adult, I learnt the importance of trying to trace
Primes I went through from my childhood age.

See? It’s due to one’s obedience and degree of conformity,
That I find peer pressure and brainwashing existent.
There’s literally no way, as a child or a teen,
That you have never went through one of them.

Your family and the company you keep,
Let alone what you watch, listen to and read –
Are prerequisites to how you perceive yourself.
Your character hinges on genes, experience and experiments.

By knowing your background – you are a step closer –
To finding your strengths – it all lies in frequent exposure.
You’ve been through life for over two decades –
So your mind is reflecting and preparing you for the next phase.

Under normal circumstances, you are either young or old.
But right now, you are pretty much in between, a bit of both.
You are swinging on both sides – and I’m not being sexual.
I mean, others are young ones or adults, but you are a young adult.

This is the most critical phase of your life – don’t mess up.
Embrace it – but carefully choose your path going forward!

Rationale: Adulthood has its perks, I must say. Being a young adult comes with a handful of all the perks. The greater perk of them all being the irony of the phase itself. I believe that the phrasal noun “young adult” is oxymoronic, since children consider you old as an adult, and expect a lot from you, while on the other hand the elders consider you young even in your adulthood, which also comes with expectations. A very confusing phase, you reckon, to the point that being a confused young adult myself pushed me to write a poem that lets young adults out there that they are not alone, and help them with how they can hang in there. The title of the poem is: “Young Adult.”

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About the author:

Mpho (MrSir) Matlhabegoane is one of the A! Writers Hub writers. He uses writing as a tool for Mental Health Advocacy. He became an Activator in 2019. He was trained and mentored by SWITCH and NMM.

He is a Founder and Management Director of MSPT (Pty) Ltd – which focuses on simplifying mathematics for FET Learners and on book distribution in South Africa. He worked as an All Rounder at Brain Waves Development Org. – which focuses on STEMI Projects and competition. He has been a Marketing Manager at Uhunu Career G&L Org., which focuses on simplifying career paths for FET Learners, and used to work at Mpumalanga Technical College as a Mathematics facilitator.

He worked with several schools around South Africa on SGB Posts and Education Assistant Posts as a Mathematics facilitator as well as Extra Class Teacher through his Programme (MSPT) – such as Langlaagte Tegniese Hoerskool (Gauteng), Michael Modisakeng Secondary School (North West) and Seruane High School (Mpumalanga). He used to work as one of the Mathematics Tutors for SSIP Programme in Gauteng. He is a published author of four books, namely: The Story Of MrSir, Views and Emotions, Expanding The World Of Nerds, and featured in Poetry Lockdown, as of 2023.