Comparing poetry and meaning

Hello!

For this edition of the Literary Lounge, I will be comparing a poem written by a student and a poem written by Shel Silverstein. To start, here is the Shel Silverstein poem:

The Voice

There is a voice inside of you

That whispers all day long.

“I feel that this is right for me. 

I know that this is wrong.”No teacher, preacher, parent, friend

Or wise man can decide

What’s right for you - just listen to

The voice that speaks inside.

Now, the student written poem:

Mini-Me

No matter what time of day

There is always a little voice in my head

That gets in the way.

My way from feeling happy or glad

It makes me stressed, enough that i can

Barely withstand.

Telling me the meaning is under what was said

When all that was said was “No, it’s ok. You go ahead.”

I strive not to listen

But its words get loud enough to blur my vision.

Blur my vision with tears of fright,

Then it begins to command my body to 

The stage of fight or flight.

This little voice that wants to make me flee,

I like to call my Mini-me.

In these poems, you can see a featured voice. In one of the two, the voice is positive, but in the other one, it gets in the way. Both poems are quite powerful, just in different ways.

-Article by Maelle