Hi, everyone! Have you ever heard of a
contemporary poetess called Rupi Kaur? I
started to read her first book of poetry, Milk and Honey, at the beginning of
the year and I found out a whole world in her poetry.
WHO IS RUPI KAUR?
Rupi Kaur is a Canadian poetess, illustrator, photographer, and author. She was born in Punjab, India, but, then, her family migrated to Canada, when she was 4. She began to do performing poetry in 2009.
In 2015 Kaur posted a series of photos for a university project on Instagram. These photos showed her with menstrual blood stains and the platform removed the images, so she wrote a critique about this censorship action. After that she started to use the platform to share her illustrations with her thoughts and became part of the “Instapoetry” group. In 2014 she self-published her first collection of poetry, Milk and Honey, which has sold over 2,5 million copies in 25 languages and in the list of New York Times bestsellers was for 77 weeks. In 2017 she published her second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers, and in the 2020 her third collection, Home Body.
WHAT IS INSTAPOETRY?
Instapoetry is a term which describes poems written to be
shared in online platforms, like Instagram, most commonly, Twitter, Tumblr or
also TikTok. The poems are composed by short and direct lines and sometimes are
connected to an image or a drawing. Instapoetry became the object of criticism
from poets and critics. Many critics think that Instapoets should just be seen
like online celebrities and not like literary figures. Other critics think that
the style of Instapoetry is a disgrace for poetry.
MILK AND HONEY
“milk and honey” is title of the first book of
short poems written by Rupi Kaur. The title “milk and honey” draws back to the origin of the poetess, because in
Punjab milk and honey - symbol of kindness- is a tonic, which has a beneficial power.
Another element that recalls Punjab’s culture is the use of lowercase to write
the title, subheadings and poems. It is a choice influenced by gurmukhi, her first language, which
doesn’t have capital letters.
In this collection of poetry Rupi Kaur wrote
about several themes such as sexual abuses, love (and also self-love),
femininity, loss, violence. The collection of poetry and prose is divided in
four chapters (the hurting, the loving, the breaking and the healing) in which Rupi
Kaur talks about her experiences, explores the themes above and saves different
pains. I’ve chosen two examples of poems
to share with you. The first one from “milk and honey” and the second one from
her second book, which I haven’t finished yet, “the sun and her flower”.
stay strong through your pain
grow flowers from it
you have helped me
grow flowers out of mine so
bloom beautifully
dangerously
loudly
bloom softly
however you need
just bloom
-to the reader
despite knowing
they won’t be here for long
they still choose to live
their brightest lives
-sunflowers
Her poetry is filled with bad and good
feelings, her pain, fear and sadness became little by little power through
poetry.
I think that every girl should read her books. They
have inspirational messages such as not
to stop to fight for one’s own dreams and balance, or that everything bad will pass away and it will
become awareness of the past with time. All the themes she deals with are
important and thought-provoking, her way
of expressing emotions and feelings is so beautiful and, above all, she shows
us what self-love is and how important it is.
GIORGIA MASI, 4sc
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