Poetry for the 21st Century Woman: Milk and Honey Review
Welcome back to the club, if you are reading this, we are guessing that you are a) interested in reading Milk and Honey b) devotee to our blog and just live and breathe for our posts c) reader of Milk and Honey and want some discussion. These are in no particular order of likelihood, but our best bet is “b”. Without further ado, here is the Milk and Honey review (hehe...that kind of rhymed...like poetry...okay that was bad...we are going to lose viewership on that one).
Author Background:
Rupi Kaur is a writer and artist in Toronto. She immigrated from India as a child, and began performing her written word on Youtube. Visit Rupi Kaur’s Channel:
Milk and Honey, released in 2014, was her first poetry collection, quickly becoming a #1 New York Times Bestseller.
Our Thoughts:
This book was a whirlwind of emotion in the most positive sense. We both have never been intense poetry fanatics, but we truly couldn’t put this book down. Here’s the lowdown: This collection of poetry is partitioned into four sections: The Hurting, The Loving, The Breaking, The Healing. These sections practically work as seasons of a relationship with transformation between experiences of pain and longing into anthems of acceptance and triumph. There is a beautiful balance between delicate words versus soul wrenching stanzas. Throughout the book, the poems are extremely personal and raw, while having a continual simplicity that ties the poems together. Kaur’s emotions are very transparent through her words, but also leaves the readers with a unique experience themselves, whether that be processing the literary text through hate, fear, depression, happiness, pride, calm, femininity, etc.. This collection, while in many ways simple, addresses some of the darkest and most hopeful matters of the human heart.
To carry on, we both feel as though the Rupi Kaur breathes a wisdom of a much older author, as though she has lived multiple lives even though she is only 24 years old. While reading this collection, readers ultimately feel like they are being pulled with the author in her story. It is incredibly vulnerable the way the author rips her heart out and puts it onto paper through words and sketches. For men, it’s eye opening, for women it’s familiar, truthful, and representative of emotions one feels through different stages of their lives. With that said, even though it is feministic literature, there is a place for everyone to relate. We have already recommended it to several people that could possible relate. It is truly infectious with its profound poetry that makes you want to share it.
This collection touches on many different aspects of life. It includes: feminism, rape, relationships, sex, depression, fathers and mothers. Noting a few significant parts that grasps us, Rupi Kaur counters society by suggesting how sex should be more meaningful, addresses rape culture and how she dealt with it, demonstrates how not having good examples when you’re young, shape who you are when you are old, and finally crushes preconceived ideas about how women have to act.
“you tell me to quiet down cause
my opinions make me less beautiful
but i was not made with a fire in my belly
so i could be put out… i was made heavy
half blade and half silk
difficult to forget and not easy
for the mind to follow” (Kaur 30).
Fun Facts:
Rupi Kaur only uses lowercase letters in her work and she does all the illustrations herself.
Supposedly she has another collection of poems being released in the fall of 2017 so be on the lookout!
Better Read than Dead,
Geneva and Addie