Hello, Monster

"Hello, Monster" was my favorite poem to read in Armor and Flesh. Perhaps it was the author's simple choice of words or just the concept itself that appealed to me. The poem starts off pretty generically with "the monster in my closet" idea but then it becomes heavyhearted and carries a sorrowful tone. Here, the narrator calls herself "the monster" because she seems to hurt everyone and everything that gets close to her. "I threaten me, everything I hold dear". She is her own worst enemy and it kills her to not be around the ones she cares about in fear of damaging them. At night she hides underneath her covers beacuse she is afraid of unleashing the beast within herself. "My sharp teeth glinting in the moonlight" reminded me of a werewolf or vampire, both which are associated with the night, envoking feelings of unrest and disparity . There is a sense of inner turmoil in the second to last stanza in which she cries, "Don't tell me it's ok. I know what I'm like". This is the author speaking in her own voice and not the monster's. This identity crisis or duality in character is made evident in the last stanza, "How much damage I could do if given room" which is the most aggressive by far. I would love to find out what has created this monster. -Pete Lee