Tired of Waiting for a Better World?

Welcome back, regulars. And to all the new readers: it’s great to have you here.

This is the sixth edition of Think About It, and I’ll tell you what, it’s always such a challenge to pick what to cover in each edition. It’s because I have saved, highlighted, collected, and bookmarked so many great poems, quotes, and excerpts.

But I always try to pick something that is somehow relevant to my life or world events on a broader scale.

So, this week I can’t help but go with Tired by Langston Hughes.

I first came across this poem in 2020 when we were all a few months into the COVID pandemic.

It became quite popular on social media in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder.

And I feel that again, it is quite apt considering the current state of our world. I’ll come back to that in a bit.

Let me break down the first part.

“I am so tired of waiting” implies that Hughes is exhausted by inaction and the slow pace of change. This opening line immediately sets a tone of weariness and frustration.

And then, in the second line, he uses the words “aren’t you” to appeal to us (the readers). It pulls us into his shared sense of fatigue and implies a collective experience of frustration. 

This is what makes the poem very relatable and personal, like Hughes is talking to us one-on-one.

This defines what he’s tired of waiting for. It paints a picture of an ideal world. The one that is characterized by morality, aesthetics, and compassion. 

So what is it that he’s tired of?

This is where context¹ helps. Hughes wrote this poem in 1930, fully aware that life for Black Americans wasn’t improving. In 1937, he gave a speech expressing the same frustration. He talked about how Black voices were met with violence, jail, and even lynching whenever they spoke out against injustice.

He felt that society lacked goodness, beauty, and kindness in the way it treated Black Americans.

Given the context, I feel that his writing is so effective. We have to admire the simplicity of the structure and his choice of words. Anyone reading it would immediately feel seen.  

It also makes this poem timeless. I mean, how can one not feel tired when one finds that the world is not good, beautiful, and kind?

I am sure you’d agree that it’s hard to stay optimistic after what we see in the news on a daily basis. 

Wars, illegal occupation, murders, racism, systematic marginalisation, corruption, human rights abuses, the list keeps on going the more you think about it.

Last week, we all thought that there was a possibility that World War 3 might happen.  And yet we felt that we had no power over what’s going on, regardless of our education, status, and morals. And we feel like this from time to time.

And we just hope that things will magically improve, or there will be some divine intervention. 

So, we all can say, “Yes, we are tired as well.”

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Ok, so if the first half of the poem felt relatable and comforting in a way, then the second half is where Hughes amplifies the seriousness of his message. 

This is dramatic, almost shocking, and a turning point.

It's a vivid metaphor for radical and decisive action. Instead of passively waiting, he proposes an active, even aggressive, intervention. 

"Cutting the world in two" means getting to the absolute core, dissecting it to expose its hidden truths. It implies a willingness to face harsh realities.

The knife represents truth, investigation, and maybe even rebellion.

The final line, “and see what worms are eating / at the rind,” is the gut-punch. This is the purpose of the drastic action.

The rind is the outer layer, the superficial appearance of the world. The worms are the hidden and destructive forces. They could be corruption, injustice, hatred, greed, anything that secretly decays the world from within.

Hughes is asking for a collective action to expose these root problems, to shine a light on the hidden decay that prevents the world from being good, beautiful, and kind.

Overall, this short poem is a wake-up call for all of us who are waiting for the world to become better on its own. He suggests it’s time to look beneath the surface and examine what’s preventing goodness.

And as far as it comes to whether it is still relevant today… Well, yes, of course it is. And I already said that poems like this are timeless in a way.

We all feel exhausted by waiting for the world to become more just, kind, and sane. Whether it's about political systems, inequality, climate change, or human rights, the frustration of "Why hasn’t the world gotten better yet?" is universal.

And what we see is the world’s surface in the media we consume—curated images, performative activism, empty PR promises, hollow speeches, etc.

Hughes’ poem is a reminder that we need to look deeper: who’s benefitting from the current state of things? What systems are decaying from within? What are we doing about it?

The world may or may not become just, kind, and beautiful. But that’s not the point. Hughes just reminds us that we should not surrender to the weariness and exhaustion that we are destined to feel from time to time.

What do you think of this poem? Do you agree with my interpretation and analysis?

Do you think that collective action is worth the effort, whether we see the result or not?

With that, it’s a wrap for this week’s edition.

Will see you again next week.

Until then
Stay curious

Zaid

PS: If you think someone you know would benefit from this newsletter, then I urge you to forward it to them :)

1. Hughes often wrote short and simple poems because he wanted to show the world what life was really like for Black Americans. And in doing so, he captured struggles that all people could relate to. To make his poetry feel real and alive, he deliberately wrote in the style of Black folk music, like spirituals, blues, and work songs. He made them part of his art, so his words carried the same rhythm, emotion, and truth. And that’s how he also became one of the prime figures of the Harlem Renaissance.