Carolyn Kizer's Bitch: Closing the Doors on the Past

The poem “Bitch” by Carolyn Kizer, published in 1984, is one that truly grasps the reader’s attention, beginning with the title itself. The overall tone of this poem intertwines the feelings of sadness and anger and also reveals quite a bit about the speaker’s past. The speaker is referring to her inner self as the “bitch” and her hurt condition is clearly present throughout the poem. She uses words such as “bark, growling, slobbers and whimper” to drive this meaning across to the reader. It is in the speaker’s own representation of her inner self as a “bitch,” one that not only “bark[s] hysterically,” but also may “whimper,” and even “cringe". The speaker is easily inclined to remember past memories from the relationship and struggles with revealing her inner emotions and putting on a calm outward appearance. This is an experience which is quite familiar to me, as a reader. I am often faced with the choice of being a "bitch" to someone (ex-boyfriend, annoying relative, a backstabbing friend...etc) and showing how I truly feel or being a controlled and relaxed young woman. Kizer uses the imagery of a dog throughout the poem to show the speaker's different emotions.
"Bitch" begins by describing an encounter between the speaker and an ex-lover. Lines 1 and 2 (“Now, when he and I meet... growling”) reveal that these two have not kept in contact over the years. Although the speaker feels hurt and angry about the past, she tells herself to control her emotions. She is fighting with herself to not let her true feelings show. Should she scream out in anger or break down in tears to express her hurt state? Or should she stay quiet and maintain her calm nature? There is obviously tension present in these first few lines. At this point in the poem, the reader does not know

how or why this relationship ended, but the break-up clearly hurt the “bitch” more than it hurt her lover.

The speaker displays an outward appearance of kindness and self-control, while she