Vice Versa Poem by Sana Olivia Hernandez

Your poem stayed in my mind today, so I had to come back to it. The four things the teacher, Ms Society, highlights are truly terrifying. That's why I wrote you feel trapped when you read and thinking about it. B-U-T I failed to appreciate the following stanza where your character expresses her positive values. SHE has not been brainwashed. Silenced, yes, but not warped by the teachers, authorities, peers and parents. She has an inner freeedom which shines forth! I missed tat shining the first time I read your poem.

Even though you specifically created a society with values that are the polar opposite of what ours have traditionally been, your main character resists this debasement. She cant think these thoughts in the classroom and in terms of action, she spontaneously chooses to help. I can imagine how isolated she would be if her true values were exposed. But wait she already is isolated. It's a disturbing poem and thinking about it gets you more and more trapped.