About the Poet: Michael Mack Michael Mack is an American poet, playwright and a performer. He was born on 6th August, 1946. He grew up in Missouri. He served the Air Force for five years. He has written two plays, many poems and short stories. One of his book-length poems entitled 'Treblinka' was selected by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Israel, to be on display. His first compilation of poetry was published a few years ago, entitled 'Balladeer-The Poetry of Michael Mack. His famous poems include- The Last Words of Mary Dodd, Counting Clouds, The Hallways of My Mind, False Reality and The Robot.
About the Poem:
The poem ‘Small Pain in My Chest' was written in 1983. It is based on the Vietnam War, a prolonged struggle which began in 1955 and ended in 1975. It is a symbolic poem written in the form of a ballad. It is a remarkable poem about a soldier’s death and the narrator’s feeling at his death. The poet has brought out the suffering of the soldiers. The soldier repeatedly says that he has a small pain in his chest and finally dies of his injury that he received at the battle. A small pain in the soldier's chest is a big pain in the conscience of humanity. In the battlefield, it is horror and chaos, fear and trauma. The poem indirectly advises the people to shun hatred and warfare.