What Other Writers Say
Specifically analyzing the poem titled A Breeze No Longer Sound And Sane, author Stephen Mupoto had this to say:
This is a powerful composition that vividly laments the destruction of the natural environment which has led to literally a whole host of consequences. The first line suggests that there has been an alarming level of air pollution and the second one invokes or reminisces on the natural beauty that was…but that no longer is…. I like the poet’s style to the core. The poet is deliberately economic with words, perhaps to show how distraught he is.
I had to momentarily stop and reflect on this poem. The first thing that came to my mind was something that is too obvious, that the poem speaks of environmental issues, particularly the destructive nature of human activity on the environment. This is the first and more obvious dimension to which the poem could be construed.
As fumes litter the atmosphere….note usage of fumes here which may literally mean conflict, mishaps or anything that is prejudicial or likely to cause damage. Also note that the use of the term environment as a setting in which this destruction occurs.
We think of the greener yesteryear…this tells us that the status quo is in a deplorable state or state of degeneration as compared to the previous epoch. This can therefore be loosely linked to a loss of the lustre of moral virtues sacrificed on the altar of expediency by adopting toxic methods of existence. Fumes can aptly be the foreign or alien culture and indoctrination that has has serious harm to our *environment* (way of life).
Precisely examining the same poem, author Blessing M. Dube made the following observations:
The poet’s knack to see what is wrong in our modern world is just at a level that cannot be paralleled. He talks of raising …bees and peas, as a thing of the past, insinuating that some species have gone extinct due to undesirable human activities. Ecological imbalance is at pinnacle level according to the poet. Hence he writes …virtue of our crude squeeze. He conjures up a sickening element of human traits. This poem is imbedded in figurative language. Besides employing an end rhyme scheme, the poet also enriches and energizes his work with the help of literary devices like a piece of metaphor. There is a melancholic personification of the environment. He writes: the environment is mourning its loss of virginity. This line tells it all about how dangerous human beings are. Unsustainable human activities are tantamount to sexual abuse imposed on the docile and hapless environment. This is a sweet composition, fellow bard.
