Look at it, cold and wet like a newborn
calf. I want to tell it everything—how we
struggled, how we tore out our hair and
thumbed through rusted nails just to
stand for its birth. I want to say: look how
far we’ve come. Promise our resolutions.
But what does a baby care for oaths and
pledges? It only wants to live.
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From What Kind of Woman by Kate Baer. Used with the permission of Harper Perennial. Copyright © 2020 by Kate Baer.
Kate Baer
Kate Baer is a writer and poet based on the East Coast. Her work focuses on womanhood, motherhood, and relationships—highlighting the monotony, humor, and depth that comes along with these experiences. Her poetry is often described as both transformative and as “poetry for people who don’t like poetry.” Her work has regularly been featured on Joanna Goddard’s Cup of Jo and The Huffington Post. What Kind of Woman is her first book.
