Struggle In Carolyn Kizer's The Inner Bitch

The Inner Bitch Struggle

Arguably, poetry may be considered one of the biggest mediums for self-expression; from artists who use it to express their views and feelings to an audience to a husband conveying feelings to his wife poetry’s the medium. When one hears the term ‘poetry’ the Edgar Allen Poe standard format is what usually comes to mind, yet every day radio stations play hundreds of poems to listeners who feel direct connections to what they hear. Regardless of the medium success will only be achieved if the artist can make a connection with their audience. With poetry, a great poet can write a piece and while they have never met the reader, that poem will make the connection and leave the reader feeling as if the poet had somehow written

One such personal life experience piece Kizer published late in her career is titled, “Bitch”. The poem is composed of thirty-four lines, and it depicts the conversation a woman is having with her former lover as well as the conversation her inner self would have with him if given the chance to truly express herself. The title of the poem is also the same name given to the female speaker’s inner mind so one could say her thoughts are quite feisty at the very least. While the conversation between the former lovers was short, the brief encounter was well written and expresses a witty monologue while spanning the emotional carousel one may experience when encountering an ex. This female’s feelings ranged from an angry animosity to adoration for the former lover. Kizer used the moment to give readers a sense of the hidden inner thoughts of the scorned woman. As the reader, it is quite obvious that during this verbal exchange of former lovers, the woman has internal struggles with her feelings towards someone she used to be so close to. She wants so badly to hate him, but underneath she harbors residual feelings for him. She repeatedly has to talk her inner self down from wanting this man, as she tells her “Down, girl! Keep your distance.” (Kizer 13) Kizer uses the woman’s conversation with her inner “bitch” as an extended metaphor to get the woman’s feelings across to