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Alexly Campos

Mrs. Dole

English 3/ P 1

9 May 2018

Slam Poem Reflection

As many know, and from what is understood the connotations revolving around mental

health are quieted down. To many of the teenagers, it’s a hush-hush topic not to be discussed.

Which is one of the many reasons as to why I wrote this poem. After suffering through and

fighting mental illnesses, and being a success story to yourself of having been able to reach for

help and recovered, I wanted to do the same for others. If I had the chance to listen to this poem

while in need I’d know I was not alone. The poem created was a call for help at once, but now

it’s simply a memory to be shared. Most of the piece is a metaphor of feelings, a form expressing

and letting a lot of pent-up pain out. I was glad to have been given the chance to share it with

others.

Looking into the actual set up and format I did use multiple literary devices. The ones

included were: alliteration, repetition, metaphor, onomatopoeia, symbolism, and personification.

In my reflection I will only be discussing three, first I’ll begin with alliteration where it reads,

“words come out as weeping willows with a war…”(Line5). When this line was written I wanted

it to be very imaginative, I wanted those who heard the poem to understand how it felt. The

purpose of what is expressed is to explain how hard it was for me to get a word out of how I was

feeling inside. Like having the lump in your throat and not being able to speak. Moving onto the

next literary device, I used a metaphor that says, “The mind of a human is a clockwork, but as

soon as a single screw loosens out, ever so slightly they begin to malfunction.”(Lines 15-16).
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Again my poem uses a lot of images in the attempt to understand what is going through the mind

of someone who is in the current mindset. It’s a form of understanding what the person feels

truly. How easy it is for a person to fall out without the right guidance or support, but as said that

feeling or wrong path can come from anywhere. Lastly, I used symbolism in the poem and it

read, “ It's a whirlwind of ideas, a frenzy of a storm.”(Line 34-35). The storm or what I would

see as the “hurricane” is what is occurring inside the mind of a person. Within the poem, I would

like to think that I got the listener to be in the “eye of the storm” and have some understanding if

they had never experienced it themselves.

I will say that while writing this poem I had many breakdowns with the break threw of

expressing my feelings as I did. Having this chance in allowing people to know or being able to

relate to such being expressed is essential for all of us. To have empathy, to care a little more, to

watch after one’s friend. To write about the topic being discussed has always been easy to me

and the ideas and emotions flow out of me, in a way I could never express at all verbally. I am

glad that I have been able to practice and bring myself to speak and tell the story in front of the

class and truly hope for their understanding. I hope that when I present it they have something to

take home that day and be able to share with their friends, that it is okay to talk about one’s

feelings without being judged or told it is wrong to talk about what is going on inside.

Are You Okay?

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Sitting around and listening to the next, “kill myself”, the next, “I want to die”, the next “I hate
myself”. Around and around as boys and girls giggle in unison replying, “same”. Do they not
hear my cries for help? Are they muffled by their own? I suffered from ED, OCD, PTSD,
anxiety, depression, and all you can do is sit there and say same? Don’t you understand the pain?
Can’t you hear my voice as my words come out as weeping willows with a war inside my head?
We don’t talk about it, about the fact that we hide our feelings behind a transparent I’m fine.
We don’t talk about it, the girls an attention whore if she opens up about the truth her truth.
We don’t talk about it, how boys can also suffer from eating disorders just any other, they have
feelings too.
We don’t talk about it, one day being utterly fine and the next so stressed you ponder on taking
your life
The mind of a human is a clockwork, but as soon as a single screw loosens out, ever so slightly
they begin to malfunction. The screw can be just about anything their daily lifestyle, their family,
their ability to be resilient, their social life, all contributing the loosening of the screw.
Tick tick tick time flies as we idolize those who are glamorized. A little makeup here and little
filter there. I can’t recognize myself in my disguise.
How am I allowed to feel at my greatest, happiness in vivid purple hair, as many warp their
appearance a change much needed, we feel alive and with a place, as adults stare with disgust,
and belittling us. As young children, we are told to not judge a book by its cover but every day I
feel as though a spotlight on my signal appearance defines everything as to who I am to others.
Those younger than me, those older than me, and those in between. Can you say you feel the
same.
Yes, I am tired, it is not what you think. It’s the worst kind of exhaustion. Where you feel rotten
and you have forgotten the taste of feeling alive. Once you feel it wash over you, you can’t get it
enough, mourning at its loss. The inability to raise yourself up from the bed feeling as though
you continue to sink in. The only place I feel safe in the comfort of these imaginary arms, being
sung a lullaby as the train speeds by. Mother don’t yell, no I am not lazy, not I don’t want to go
out, is it so wrong to want to be alone. Speak to me, I am not okay.
Do they ever ask us once, what's going on inside our head. It's a whirlwind of ideas, a frenzy of a
storm. Our emotional health is just as important as our physical state. A broken bone is just as
bad as suffering from depression. It deserves the attention.

Alliteration,Repetition,Metaphor,Onomatopoeia, Symbolism, Personification