Hello, PMM,

Here is a review for your "The only child's burden" .

Comments and Observations:

I so hear you! As I was an only child, too. Your words, therefore, are very relatable for me.

What I liked the most about your piece is that it reads like prose poetry. And it got to the gist of the idea of how something that appears enviable to others can, in truth, be isolating and heavy. I think the emotional honesty here is the greatest strength.

Your lines like “the demons that haunt the very essence of my being” and “the so-called ‘space’ claws at the void in my heart” show truthful emotional struggle. Yet, they are not melodramatic. Your vulnerability is there out in the open, though.

I liked your use of contrasts, such as, privilege vs. loneliness, love vs. responsibility, solitude vs. isolation. Plus, curtains of illusion, walls around the heart, and a burning inferno are wonderful metaphors.

Then, I can so commiserate with your internal pain, which you have personified as "space” that “claws at the void.”

Best of all, the final paragraph’s reflection on solitude is the absolute truth, but not self-pity, and it defies change. And again, I can so understand when you say, " They don't realise that I have learnt to comfort myself..."

In fact, your entire piece speaks from the inside out, without drama, but revelation.

Lovely piece. And so so true!

Suggestions on the text as to grammar, usage, and punctuation

I could see no problems in this area.

Best wishes with your work.




My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .