Reviews are limited by at least two things: The reviewer's knowledge/background and the author's temperament. Sometimes the reviewer's understanding and interpretation of a piece misses the mark. When the author believes this is the case, he can become hurt or angered. Please don't be. This review is neither a condemnation of your work, nor an extolment. It's just my opinion, nothing more.




At first I thought you were being literal, and then I realized as I read along, you were using metaphor to make a statement about being hurt. Of ten I read poems about the conflict between mother and daughter, and it's either a dilemma of epic proportions, or some of these writers have issues beyond their mother. Be that as it may, the poem here realizes at least one thing: While the mother may have been the catalyst, intimately we are responsible for our own lives, that we have the power to pull our hand away from the first (to use your metaphor) and that at some point we need to accept our failures as our own.

Sometimes it requires a while learning process: learning to love ourselves, forgive ourselves, and to forgive others. That last one may be the hardest of all, but when achieved we can sweep up those pieces and move on.

Your speaker learned to handle the burns, which seemed an interesting statement. I would have hoped that he/she could have kept the hurt from igniting. If we accept it as untrue, then it shouldn't burn, or hurt us. Instead it seems the speaker has just covered up the burn, made it hurt less.

Anyway, I'm starting to lose my point and becoming far too convoluted. I hope all can find their right place in life, avoid those who hurt us, and find those who would not hold the flame out to us.

I see that you are new to the site. I was not to long ago myself. I hope you are getting along well, if you do have any questions feel free to yell, if I don't know the answers I can probably find someone who does know them.

It was a good poem.