Late last night I was scrolling through Instagram (I know), but this time I found something worthwhile. I stumbled upon Kate Baer. Her poems stopped me in my tracks and kept me from scrolling further. As I read, I was struck by her language, what she says, and how she says it. Here are a couple of them.
To Take Back a Life
by Kate Baer
First you must learn desire. Hold its
fruit in your hands. Unmarry it
from the hunger to be held, to be wanted, to
be called from the streets like the family
dog. You are not a good girl. You are not
somebody's otherness. This is not a dress
rehearsal before a better kind of life.
Pick up your heavy burdens and leave
them at the gate. I will hold the door for
you.
She also does some "blackout poetry" where she takes the ugly messages that men have sent her about her "ugly leftist agenda", calling her fat and dumb, and transforms them into something beautiful by deleting their own words. This is a little more difficult to share, but you can see this example on Instagram here.
I found her poetry to be accessible and speak to what many women are thinking (at least this woman).
You can read more about Kate Baer here.
I wish you mindfulness, peace, good health, and the understanding that this is not a dress rehearsal before a better kind of life as the week winds down.
Wow! Very, very powerful poems Bonny. Thank you for sharing. She is a new one to me.
ReplyDeleteWow! I am heading to IG right now to follow her! Thank you for sharing... and I love her blackout poetry!
ReplyDeleteOh my, that second poem! It would be powerful on its own, but it's even more so when you see how she's transformed words of hate to that beautiful message! Thank you so much for sharing this.
ReplyDeleteLife is not a dress rehearsal. Such an important message. Thanks, Bonny.
ReplyDeleteVery timely and intriguing, Bonny. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThat is so cool. Submitting library order now...
ReplyDeleteyes! I follow her on Instagram and her blackout poetry is just so good!
ReplyDeleteI find insta a much better use of my time than twitter but then I tend to use twitter to put my finger on the pulse of what's going on...grr. Love the poetry!!
ReplyDeleteShe sounds amazing, thank you for the suggestion. Some people are so pathetic, who would ever feel good about themselves having to write all those nasty things?
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely find on Instagram. I recognize the poet's name but now I will be looking for her poetry. The way she transformed a nasty message into a beautiful poem is quite something.
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