Poem of the WeekPoetryLiterature

Poem of the Week |33| I am not a kind woman

By Fiona Bolger

I am not a kind woman

kind is a child’s word for a good teacher
what we want for a mother
wish for in others
others that is, not lovers

the institutional kind?
? not me
I’ve lived through three
and fled them all
losing some soul
along the way

I’m not the kith and kin kind of woman
I’m not the man-kind of woman
I’m not kind of this
kind of that
kind of woman

Advertisement

I was that kind
the adjusting kind
when he said no calls from eight
to eight I said ok
when he said these ten
are your only friends ? I said ok
I was not the book throwing
paper tearing screaming kind
I was not the answer back
and cause a scene kind
but I changed and I tell you
I’m not that kind anymore

and now you think I’m that kind
the kind who tells the truth at all times
who uses smoke signals not screens
who knows right now what she will feel
in six months time
no I’m not that kind

I’m a many kinded woman
I’m a receiver of kindness kind of woman
I’m a me kind of woman
I’m my own kind of woman

I’m a back to earth kind of woman
there is hope in language
a rooted kind
growing naturally

kind means
to treat as family
doing good for others
with that in mind
think ? what kind are you?

Fiona Bolger 1 posts 0 comments

Fióna's work has appeared in Southword, The Brown Critique, Can Can, Boyne Berries, Poetry Bus, The Chattahoochee Review, Bare Hands Poetry Anthology, The Indian Muse and others. Her poems first appeared in print tied to lamp posts (UpStart 2011 General Election Campaign). They've also been on coffee cups (The Ash Sessions). Her grimoire, The Geometry of Love between the Elements, was published by Poetry Bus Press in 2013. She is a co-ordinator of Dublin Writers' Forum and a creative practice mentor with Uversity. She is also a member of Airfield Writers.