Poets use metaphors in poems to describe the difference between the two things that you are comparing. Metaphors help the reader to understand the poem more clearly. Poets sometimes use metaphors to compare characters within the poem. In Cathy Song’s poem “The Youngest Daughter,” the poet uses metaphors to help the reader understand the relationship between the mother and the daughter. The poet distinguishes the differences of the mother and daughter. However, the reader is also able to see the similarities between the two women. The daughter starts off by saying that her “skin has become as damp/and pale as rice paper” (611). She then compares it to the way that her mother’s skin used to feel because of the sun. This is ironic because the