Define the fear I feel inside
The instinct that demands I hide
*
I don't understand what I see
A blackened figure staring back at me
*
No eyes, no mouth, and no expression
Unknown emotion; unknown aggression
*
Close my eyes and try to sleep
Count the numbers, count the sheep
*
Mommy says that it's just my friend
Daddy says it isn't real in the end
*
My nightlight's on, but it's here once more
Half on the wall, half on the floor
*
Twisted gruesomely out of shape
Angry arms ready to retaliate
*
Is it mad because I'm always first?
I get to drink whenever I thirst?
*
It only tastes the grayed-out line
That are always used to define
*
The things I do, the things I say
What I fear in the night, I fear in the day
*
Now I sit awake and alone in bed
Dare to turn my fearful head
*
I'm not moving, I won't flinch
But still I watch my shadow inch
*
As the darkness cuts like a clean shave
I swear I can see my shadow wave
*
Out of the corner of my eye, I see something vile
My shadow's face twists into a nasty smile
*
If I'm not wavering, why is it?
I don't like it, not one bit.
*
So you stay scared of things you know
And I'll sit here, scared of my shadow
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'Mommy says it just my friend
Daddy says it isnt real in the end'
This perfectly captures how parents convince a child not to be scared . It makes me actually think about my shadow ! I love how you manage to perfectly capture the fear and horror of a child.The way a child is convinced that they is something more to a shadow and you managed to hint at it with out just saying that .
They was no grammar or spelling mistakes as far as i know !
-Angel ^--^
Thanks, Angel! (I absolutely adore your profile picture; it makes me smile
)
Thanks again for the review!
Thanks for checking for spelling/grammar mistakes; it's always nice to know your good to go XD
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
:3
Perfectly captures the child like fears we all experience at some point in life. I love the words you use to describe everything! I also love how you only subtly hint that their's more to this shadow of yours.
You perfectly capture fear and bewilderment. And even though you never directly say it, when you say,
"Mommy says that it's just my friend
Daddy says it isn't real in the end"
It really sounds as if you as a child feel that they're not helping you fight your fears. Like they're saying "it's nothing. get over it." Which ends up making you feel more afraid of the shadow itself.
I absolutely adore this!
Good luck to you!
Thanks, PoeToaster! And sorry for the late response... School might as well be water; it drowns you. XD

To be honest, I had an extreme fascination/fear concerning my shadow for a long time when I was a child. This wasn't the original inspiration, but it certainly helped understanding the child's perspective. I always write with double meanings; it's an action of habit.
Thanks again, PoeToaster! I appreciate you stopping by and taking the time to read my little poem and leave a review
Fairly realistic with good imagery. I do think that it would make more sense as a flashback to a fear rather than a childs view at this very present, just due to the more sophisicated vocabulary that children dont usually have.
My favorite line:
"Twisted gruesomely out of shape
Angry arms ready to retaliate"
Woah. This is awesome!! I don't think many people ever really consider what scares children. Shadows, maybe, but their own shadows? I personally never thought of that. Apart from Vashta Nerada, but that doesn't count and I doubt you know what they are.
This line is cool. It makes me think of the way shadows move when the light source moves, even if you are perfectly still. It's like watching the shadow of your arm in the sun while you're in a moving car. Your arm's shadow keeps changing as things on the roadside block the light.
If this poem was read to a young kid, this is certainly the line that would give them nightmares.
Great job and keep writing!!!!!
Thanks for the review!! I really appreciate it


Vashta Nerada, huh? That's a swarm of something from Doctor Who, right? Their name had something to do with shadows, I think, so it fits! I love it
Thank you for all the feedback and insight! I love it when people like you review my work, and I can understand my own writing better. It's awesome, and I appreciate it!
Thanks again!
Hey there! So, for a rhyming poem, I actually liked this quite a bit. I'm generally quite nitpicky on rhyming but, for the most part, you made it work, and you have quite a good read in the end, so kudos on that. I liked the subject matter. It seems kind of cute in a kidish way but also dark, considering it deals with fear. You've reached a good balance there.
Favorite line, by far -
"No eyes, no mouth, and no expression
Unknown emotion; unknown aggression"
Like others, I appreciated your formatting of the poem. It did make it a little awkward for me at times because I found the asterisks stopped the flow in some places, but it was necessary in others. I wonder if you could make part of this continuing couplets, and break apart others? Are the asterisks necessary if you could instead end every couplet with a period and a space? Just a thought.
Also, I really loved this half of one of your couplets: "If I'm not wavering, why is it?" Scary, but stays within the context of the narrator.
I agree with other nitpicks on some of the forced rhymes. Always remember that a poem CAN be good without rhyming! This one is good with the rhyming though.
I felt a bit like you need a better beginning, because it's too much like it jumps straight into the couplets and the story. I appreciated the ending, however. To be scared of what you know is kind of opposite to human nature, in some extent - generally we are afraid of the unknown, or so I am told, which makes your particular line very interesting.
Overall, good job! I hope to read more from you.
Thanks for the review
I really appreciate it! I'll go back and change the formatting and stiff spots so it flows smoother.
Also, sorry for the late response... I haven't had much time to just sit and enjoy YWS for awhile now.
Hello, Chips here with a review.
I liked the idea of shadows centering interestingly in your poem. I also liked how your formatted this piece, as if it were written in stages of what the character what going through. The rhyme scheme actually worked well in this poem so well done on that.
However, there is always room for improvement so I have a few suggestions which may be of help to you.
I thought the poem took a little while to reach the actual point of the shadow, which suspended the momentum being built to the point where the shadow is addressed. I would have liked to see it progress a bit faster.
"No eyes, no mouth, and no expression
Unknown emotion; unknown aggression"
I liked the use of description here and rhyme. But I felt there was repetitiveness here which was almost verging on listing. To break up the close similarities perhaps removing one of the, "no"'s.
"Close my eyes and try to sleep
Count the numbers, count the sheep"
Here, the rhyme was good too. This is a minor nitpick but in the second line, I think the word, *and* being added after, "numbers" would make it flow more, in my view.
"Is it mad because I'm always first?
I get to drink whenever I thirst?"
This line read slightly awkwardly to me. I think it's mainly due to the word, "mad" it's somewhat informal to the rest of your poem which is written in a constant formality.
"Define the fear I feel inside
The instinct that demands I hide"
The first two lines were actually my favorite lines. I liked how they were captivating and challenged the reader.
Overall a nice poem. Hope this review helped. Keep writing!
--Chippy
Apologies for the late response! School keeps me busy.

Thank you so much for the review! I appreciate the feedback. I remember reading all of my reviews several times awhile ago, but my memory is so awful I keep forgetting to come back and fix the errors. This time I made notes, though! I'll fix up the awkward parts and make it flow smoother
Thanks again!
Hi
WallFlower here for a review.
) with something to remember. Good job!
This poem is very intriguing. I love the ending! It's the perfect ending stanza; it addresses the reader and leaves them (or in this case, me
I just had a few nitpicks.
Both of these rhymes seem a little forced. In each case the second line has more syllables than the first, making it awkward to read. If you could cut down on the syllables in both of those lines, it would greatly improve the flow of your poem.
This line sounds a bit Dr. Seuss-y. Not that imitating Dr. Seuss is a bad thing, but it doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of your poem.
Also, a semi-hidden secret of posting poetry on this site is that if you just hit Enter, it puts a double space between your lines. However, if you hit Shift+Enter, it single spaces it.
So you would type your lines like this:
Define the fear I feel inside {Shift+Enter}
The instinct that demands I hide {Enter}
I don't understand what I see {Shift+Enter}
A blackened figure staring back at me {Enter}
...etc.
Overall I really enjoyed your poem and look forward to seeing more from you
~WallFlower
Sorry I'm so late on replies! School is a killer XD
When I reread it just now, I did notice those lines again. I have a horrible memory, so I need to take a note of it so I won't forget...
Thanks so much for the review!
Thanks for the tip on spacing! It really helps.
Hi, Sherri. This is Pinkie here for a review.
Anyway, have a nice day.

To say, this poem is dark and interesting! It is about a character is scared of her/his own shadow. The whole poem is full of rhymes which it is good thing. I didn't see any errors on here which it is good too. I like it! I like it a lot! I will grand you a 'like' on this poem. You are a great poet, man!
Awesome Job and keep writing!
Cheers
Your reviewer, Pinkiegirl13
Thank you for both the review and the like

You have a nice day too
Knight r4 here to review this work, or rather poem, Sherri. I certainly hope this helps!


I enjoyed the poem a lot. The only thing that bothered me was that shadows do exactly what you do. Therefore, if you looked behind you the that would be looking behind itself took not smiling. I realize this is sort of just for effect but it kind of annoyed me. You may want to look into it anyhow. But let's get bad to the review.
I noticed that you had a star between every line. I'm not quite sure why you out them there, though I am sure you have a good reason for it. Just let me know.
Other than that I couldn't really find I whorl lot of things to critique. I thought that you used good poetic language and all that good stuff.
I am sorry, but I think that this is going to be a short review and I didn't have a lot of criticism. I am not an expert at reviewing poetry. But you should get at least one more review for it.
Ps. Oh by the way, I almost forgot to mention that I liked the length of this poem. It wasn't pages long or just a few lines good job. Happy writing!!! : D
Thank you for the review!
The kid looks at her shadow, but it doesn't turn away or do anything that she does; it moves on its own. I might need to go back and make this clearer XD
As for what bothered you, I'm assuming you mean that the shadow isn't doing what the child is doing? I did this on purpose
As for the star, I can't figure out how to make stanzas without it. I put spaces between each stanza, but when I publish it, it's all squished together into one big stanza.
Thanks again for the review! It helped a lot