Eyes - By: Isabella Relevant

She's told her eyes are beautiful as they are

But all she can do is compare them to a stunning star

They tell her that her eyes are cinnamon brown and hold so much warmth but she doesn't agree

She thinks of them as a muddy brown filled with debris

They say her eyes show her energy and shine bright with a smile

But to her they reflect a scared child

They say her eyes have a glow in the sun

But when the sun comes out she wants to run

She sees the opposite of beauty through the eyes they call pretty

All she sees is a darkened city

She never understood their love for her eyes

And she never understood her hatred that seemed to arise

And one day she had enough of the kind words of a part of her she hated

A part of her she could not stand to be rated

So one day when she was home alone

She sewed her eyes open making them known

She used a needle to numb her face

Strapped herself to the chair to stay in place

She took a spoon to the eyes people once admired

She took them out so they could no longer be desired

The blood ran down her face and dripped in a river of red

Her eyes no longer beautiful but empty holes instead

Please give a detailed explanation about the meaning and main idea of this poem.

This poem represents a girl hating a part of herself and taking action to end its control over her. "Eyes" is not simply about the color or shape of what she sees through, but is instead a metaphor for many aspects of one's self-consciousness. The idea behind this poem was to bring attention to how one's inner turmoil is unseen by those around.

Please explain your writing and thought process regarding this poem.

When writing this poem I wrote out how I felt about parts of myself. I remember wanting it to rhyme and flow. I wanted people to be able to take a deeper meaning from it and not read it at face value. With using a metaphor such as the eyes, people can dig into the meaning, almost like the expression of eyes being the window into the soul.

Why did you choose to write this poem?

I chose to write this poem for personal pleasure. I wanted to write something different from my usual style.

Do you have any tips or anything to share with the youth writers who may be reading this?

When writing don't allow negative thoughts to enter your head. Go with your gut and don't feel like it needs to be perfect right away. If it makes sense only to you, that's okay, because everyone will be able to take their own meaning, and that's the beauty of writing.