Diane Wakoski's poem " I Have Had To Learn To Live With My Face" is full of overwhelming rage. I was drawn to it because it made an emotional impression on me. There is so much anger, bitterness, pain, envy and betrayal by others and herself. The word "betrayal" appears several times:
that my friends tell me is so full of character;
my face
"my face that I wish you could bruise and batter
and destroy, napalm it, throw acid in it,
so that I might have another "
This statement constitutes the pinnacle of self-hate and self-anger. It's strident and of overwhelming intensity.
My face