Poetry Review: It's Who I Am by Brytni Hammer

In this powerfully impacting poem It’s Who I Am, the poet, Brytni Hammer’s portrayal of self is seemingly astute.The questions proposed are; is the protagonist in emotional and dire constraints and seeking help; is she aptly aware of her situation and understands her emotional dilemmas; and is her emotional breakdown espousing to chronic loneliness transparently resulting from interactions with peers and ‘other people’.Adolescent’s vulnerabilities exasperate the stress and storm years and in this poem the female protagonist’s pain and emotional turmoil is as disturbing in print as it is real.

Everyone experiences some form of loneliness at various times of his or her lives (Santrock 2008).In the adolescent years, the vulnerability of isolation is dauntless and often predictably at times unmanageable (Richaud de Minzi 2004).The protagonist is identifying herself, to the reader, as mad.She believes this is who she is with certainty. Is she telling us/stating in a straightforward, matter of fact manner, that she is mad?Does the word ‘mad’ symbolize to us that she is vulnerable and aptly translates her feelings of being unsure of what she feels on the inside.Tumultuous feelings of turbulence, roiling and churning to the recesses of her brain seeking refuge in the one thing she can depend on, ask for help, or be a source of comfort.Teenagers are often times emotional conveying in actions or words feelings; bravado and loudness; or the opposite, such as, a quiet and anxious demeanor.The loudness and in-your-face statement made by the protagonist ‘I just want to die’ is bold and decisive; vividly bringing to mind stories, pictures, newspaper articles of the few adolescents who were neglected, not identified, and suffered without the help they desperately needed.The protagonist as like many adolescents needs individuals in her life (Santrock 2008).This extends to remaining close to friends and actively seeking and maintaining valuable friendships.

Another question proposed conflicts with the reader’s understanding of the protagonists’ level of awareness/identity of self as she chaotically and yet precisely at times maneuvers her internal emotions from madness to dying.This clarity confounds the reader, as she is on one hand seemingly emotionally mature to descriptively verbalize her feelings painting a multifaceted portrayal, and on the other hand developmentally immature to not recognize the impact of her dilemma.In adolescent’s lives understanding self and being aware of ones own cognitive and socioemotional development is unstable, precarious, in ebbs and flows to adulthood (Santrock 2008).The protagonist is reaching out and forcefully depicting her state of mind.In her world, she is only saving herself for her friends who she can only tolerate some of the time?The friendships she has cultivated means more to her than her physical life despite the ‘stresses and storms’ invading her psyche.She is cognitively aware of her mindset, but is still as with most adolescents, emotionally immature to quantify the enormity and depth of her feelings as it relates to her entire life outside of the immediate friendships she holds dear.

The protagonist’s emotional challenges can be seen as a breakthrough and not a breakdown.A breakthrough in the sense of recognition of self, doubts, conflicts, relationship to peers, and lack of connections with ‘other people’.An emotional breakdown extending to and as a result of chronic loneliness, unpopularity, exclusion, ridicule, parental expectations, or just mad at the world and finding no way out of the present life’s abyss (Richaud de Minzi 2004).‘I just want to be alone’, the protagonist laments; we can take this literally as just her immediate need for space, or it can be interpreted as a breakdown espousing her dire emotional state of mind.Teenagers even in the midst of emotional turmoil gravitate to peers and create bonds/groups they can identify with and fit in.The group classification helps foster emotional and physical needs positively or negatively (Santrock 2008).Even though the make up of a peer group can reflect the diversity of the world at large, adolescents tunnel focus in this microcosm and do not consider peers like other people, reflective of society as a whole.

In conclusion, this insightful poem It’s Who I Am, voraciously describes a protagonist who feels angry, scared, vulnerable, doubtful, yet empowered by knowing herself on some level and is at peace.The emotional trajectory is typical of most adolescents, highs and lows, turbulent and matter of fact, confrontational and in denial.Even with an emotional connection and bond, to the salient words, from the first to the last line, the reader cannot help but speculate as to the situation that possibly created, fostered, or exasperated the protagonists life challenges and wonder about the healthy choices rejected, opportunities cast aside, allowing the protagonist to wallow in despair not developing adequate coping strategies/mechanisms.

WORKS CITED

Adolescence. Retrieved 3/4/09.Web Site:

Hammer, B. (2006-2009). It’s Who I Am. Poem.Retrieved 3/3/09.

Family Friend Poems.Web Site: