Hi Ari!
Here with the review! Before I begin, sorry for the delay. I know it's been a while since you requested it.
First thing I noticed about this poem is the heavy use of italics. It made me wonder. After multiple reads, I decided that the italics are meant to signal to the reader that they are now inside the head of girl that the narrator is talking about. That also means that I think "stepping into someone's shoes" has been used as a metaphor for "being inside someone's head" in this poem.
"Step into her shoes" begins with lots of abstractions: thoughts, questions, problems. The first significant imagery we get appears on the 7th line.
Step into the girl's shoes
This imagery comes right after we've had a sense of what it's like to be in the mentioned girl's head, the intrusive thoughts he has to constantly deal with.
run from your thoughts
and hide from the constant
questions.
keep your problems at a personal stage
don´t let anyone in
they´ll only use you...
It's interesting that her thoughts themselves are telling her to run from them.
More imagery comes later, starting with the 19th line.
a simple look in the mirror
she waits for it to shatter
the scars that litter her body
This is specific, thus vivid, and powerful.
Did you ever wonder about her?
did you ever think Mabey she´s
feels lonely?
By the end of the first stanza, the italics reappear, signaling that the inner voice of the girl has possessed whoever the narrator is addressing, or the reader in this case. At first, we only heard what she heard. Now that intrusive voice is talking directly to the addressee/the reader. This continues on to the next stanza.
Mabey she wants to climb and jump off a bridge
We get more imagery after a significant absence, once again vivid, making very clear the girl's state of mind.
The word happy makes her cry
This line hit me hard emotionally. I can't say specifically why but it's probably one of my favorite parts of the poem.
you get frustrated with her
you never break it down
you scream the harmful words
until you threaten to
leave her standing alone.
she quickly makes it back to her feet
apologizes for her problems
giving you stress.
you tell her she is not
depressed
The second stanza, especially this section, gives the reader a lot of information about who the inner voice might be addressing, who the narrator really wants to put in the girl's shoes. It could be a friend or a family member or a relative. Someone horribly ignorant. Not emotionally supportive at all. I'd say this section of the stanza does a pretty good job of painting a subjective picture of who is being addressed.
one day, she will disappear
regret could eat you alive
You cut the laces to her shoes
you run barefooted to yours.
do you see now?
she´s not lonely
she is just distant
The poem ends with the ignorant addressee being overwhelmed by the inner voice of the girl. Since they've taken off the shoes and run, they probably never get to hear the last five lines. They're perhaps the most significant. "She is not lonely; she is just distant." I've been thinking what this could mean and I'm not sure. Is she not lonely—only absentminded—because the inner voice always accompanies her? I think that may be the implication but I could be wrong.
The most interesting thing about this poem to me is the voice inside the girl's head and how it was characterized. The voice did a good job of making the addressee feel bad for their negligence, telling them thing they don't want to hear and leaving them panicking. Seemingly a good Samaritan. But isn't it the same voice that constantly tortures her in the same way? Telling her things she wouldn't want to hear? For example: "they´ll only use you..."
That means the inner voice itself—the shoe itself—isn't good or evil. Irrespective of who's the wearer, the voice will give them the same treatment. I think that's the point of the poem. Showing the addressee what it's like to step into the girl's shoes, to be in symbiosis with that voice and the intrusive thoughts it produces.
Last but not least, I have noticed that you used an alternate spelling of the word "maybe" twice in the poem. Both in italicized sections. I'm not sure if it was a typo or if it was intentional, meaning to add to the inner voice's characterization. You also used double spaces between words in a single line in at some point.
and hide from the constant
Mabey she wants to climb and jump off a bridge
I think this is more likely a typo. I'm not sure because the extra spaces didn't quite feel undesirable to me. They sure affected the way I read the poem but in a good way. That is, of course, subjective.
I think this is the end of the review. Those are all the interpretations and thoughts I had. I liked reading this piece and it was definitely an interesting one to review.
Take care and keep writing!
~MAS
Points: 1356
Reviews: 83
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