In the poem, “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco, each of the verses have hidden meanings that the poet is trying to convey to the reader. The verses are depicted to be a portrayal of real-life ideals, about his view of the self and society. The poet first claimed that the poet would prefer to be a wild weed instead of a flower.

 In the poem, some verses can be interpreted as the poet discussing mental health, for example, the quote. “I’d rather be unseen, and if then shunned by everyone, than to be a pleasant-smelling flower, growing in clusters in the fertile valley, where they’re praised, handled, and plucked by greedy, human hands.” (Stance 4)In this verse, you can see that the poet, after saying, “id rather be unseen”(Line 13). The quote can be explained as to how the poet currently was feeling about his identity and how his perception of the world wasn’t entirely accepted by most, and that he would rather be alone than with people. 

Referring to how he feels lonely and doesn’t feel like he can freely express himself in the way that he would like to. The poet might have a mental or physical illness that can’t be unseen, causing him not to be seen by a person and wanted to be ignored by other people in society because of how mental illness patients get treated. 

Even after claiming to be a weed, which is wild and free, the poet claims that he prefers to be invincible and not be a “pleasant-smelling flower”(Line 15) even when the flower is growing in a “fertile valley”(Line 16) meaning more stable and non-judge place.

 When the poet says, “where they’re praised, handled, and plucked by greedy, human hands.”(Line 17 and 18) These could be about how the poet would like his thoughts and views to be respected and not “stolen” by the hands of society. And also how the poet would like to choose their path and not be constrained by the wishes of others. 

The poet wants to have some freedom and wants to do something of his own without being judged or lead by someone. The poet expresses concern over his own internal battles. The verses showcase his inner struggle with acceptance of his own identity and being able to freely encompass his views without the need to be judged by society. He may also be sharing his battles of mental health, which at that time may have been considered to be “prohibition,” and had to, therefore, convey it through detailed imagery, with underlying messages.

The poem “Identity” by Julio Noboa Polanco is interesting. It can be defined as a metaphor about how the poet, would rather be an ugly, smelly weed living on the edge of a cliff than to be a pretty flower in a flower pot. It probably means that the poet wants to be free minded, be able to make their own choices and preferably not be like everyone else. Making your own identity means creating your voice/point of view, personality and attitude. Everyone has to formulate their own identity and assert it to others.

 Identity is something that makes yourself different from others and is your way of understanding the world. Throughout the poem, the author juxtaposes the two kinds of plants – the weeds and the flowers. The set of imagery the poet chose shows metaphors for two different perspectives on life. The poet refers that the people around him are flowers and himself as a weed “Let them be as flowers, always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt. I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed, clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wind-wavering above high, jagged rocks.”(Stance 1 and 2) what the author states in this quote is that to him, some people around the world act as they are perfect, but on the inside, they are just caged or “harnessed to a pot of dirt.”(Line 3) 

The poet here refers to himself as a weed because the poet is true to himself. The poet prefers to be free and the way the poet is, no matter how ugly the poet is or how the poet doesn’t share the same views as everyone else. The poet then refers to flowers as the other people around him or “society” in general. These flowers are to be handled by someone else and don’t live the way they want. Personally, as a teenager, I can assume that there are more flowers than weeds. Teens prefer to stick to the things that society advertises to them instead of not being true to themselves. Some teens do things that they don’t want to like drink, smoke or even change the way they dress because of the influence of either their peers or the rest of society.

 These actions get them nowhere, and it gives them more problems in the future. When I was in grade 8, I start becoming a flower, started dressing like my friends just to fit in. The main message the poet was trying to convey In the poem, is that the people that surround him and the people in the society are flowers, which are people who follow a trend in society instead of being yourself. The poet distances himself from that identity and instead, the poet refers to himself as being a weed, which is free and is all about being yourself.