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A review by happylilkt
What Kind of Woman: Poems by Kate Baer
3.0
3.5 stars
If you pick this up as a Poetry Reader who studies a lot of Poetry, then you might be disappointed.
If you pick this up as a new mother who feels steamrolled by what-just-happened-to-me then you might feel understood.
If you pick this up expecting that you will connect with at least one poem, you might feel disappointed or perhaps elated. I think it's typically going to swing wide.
I liked many of these poems and related to much of and in them, though I don't think I'll be returning to them again and again. They aren't the sorts of poems I would memorize to carry within me for an anchor or a spring. But they ARE the kind of poems I could send to a girlfriend in the aftershock of childbirth or divorce or other confusion and trust that she will feel relief that she is not alone. That's one role poetry is here for and by that definition this collection succeeds.
In short, while this collection is for a specific subset of women, I'm glad these poems exist.
If you pick this up as a Poetry Reader who studies a lot of Poetry, then you might be disappointed.
If you pick this up as a new mother who feels steamrolled by what-just-happened-to-me then you might feel understood.
If you pick this up expecting that you will connect with at least one poem, you might feel disappointed or perhaps elated. I think it's typically going to swing wide.
I liked many of these poems and related to much of and in them, though I don't think I'll be returning to them again and again. They aren't the sorts of poems I would memorize to carry within me for an anchor or a spring. But they ARE the kind of poems I could send to a girlfriend in the aftershock of childbirth or divorce or other confusion and trust that she will feel relief that she is not alone. That's one role poetry is here for and by that definition this collection succeeds.
In short, while this collection is for a specific subset of women, I'm glad these poems exist.