i hope this finds you well: poems - by kate baer

Kate Baer returns with a collection of erasure poems created from notes she received from followers, supporters and detractors—an art form that reclaims the vitriol from online trolls and inspires readers to transform what is ugly or painful in their own lives into something beautiful.

“I'm sure you could benefit from jumping on a treadmill”

“Women WANT a male leader...It’s honest to god the basic human playbook”

These are some of the thousands of online messages Kate Baer has received. Like countless other writers—particularly women—with internet profiles, as Kate’s online presence grew, so did the darker messages crowding her inbox. These missives from strangers have ranged from “advice” and opinions to outright harassment.

At first these messages resulted in an immediate delete and block. Until, on a whim, Kate Baer decided to transform the cruelty into art, using it to create fresh and intriguing poems. These pieces, along with ones made from notes of gratitude and love, as well as from the words of public figures, have become some of her most beloved work. Kate Baer offers us a lesson in empowerment, showing how we too can turn bitterness into beauty.

Read the interview by Cup of Jo (photo credits) with author Kate Baer here. Read this and normalize postpartum feelings and experiences: "My friend’s sister had just had a baby, and we started talking about our own postpartum visits, and we were joking about we didn’t know what it would look like down there… and then it got quiet and we had a moment where we acknowledged how we were barely holding it together. We were alone at that point. And it was really hard. Later I was thinking about that conversation and the postpartum depression screening form and how difficult it is in that moment to tell the truth because you want to have it all together."