milk and honey is a debut poetry book, self-published by Rupi Kaur during her college days. This book is a collection of poetry and prose, split into four chapters: the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. Kaur gathers inspiration from her life experiences to write this book, hence this poetry collection is easy to read and relatable to some if not all.
Now this book talks about a woman who is genuinely in love but experiences abuse and despair immensely. Her life was full of blues and greys until she learned how to love herself first.
The Hurting: This part reveals the relationship of Kaur with her mother and father. Also, it talks about the sexual abuse and trauma she experienced.
The Loving: It's about falling in love and being happy with her partner. Kaur was floating with happiness in this part.
The Breaking: Kaur was madly in love. But when their relationship starts getting dimmer, it then led to a breakup.
The Healing: Despite the trauma and the heartache, Kaur is strong enough to let go of all the mishaps in her life.
MY THOUGHTS
I'm a lover of poetry, so I read this book without reading the synopsis. When I started reading it, my nose kept on wrinkling. I thought milk and honey is all about sex and abuse. But I was wrong - completely wrong. I was indeed guilty of misjudgment without reaching 30% of the book. As mentioned, the hurting section talks about sexual abuse, and I was in that section. I posted it on my Instagram story about my initial judgment about the book, and a college classmate, a bookworm, replied that it's not about sex. She added that I should keep on reading. Fortunate enough that I listened. I was very wrong to judge it right away.
The poem and prose are easy to read but are still warm, piercing, and heartfelt. Some of them are supplemented with illustrations that heighten the message of those short prose and/or poetry.
i am water
soft enough
to offer life
tough enough
to drown it away
I am not particular with the rhythm, meter, or rhyme but rather about the message the poem wants to convey. Although I can't deny the fact that those aforementioned are the spices that can heighten my interest in the poem. But, 'milk and honey' is something else. I've said it already and will still say that it is easy to read and relatable, but Kaur was able to write it that can still get hold of its reader with its rawness and emotions.
if you were born with
the weakness to fall
you were born with
the strength to rise
The hurting may not be relatable to some, but as the chapter goes, it became more relatable and emotional. The metaphors are a stunner. From being trapped to a cocoon to a flying beautiful butterfly, it tells the readers how we should rise again despite all the struggles life has thrown. This book may be under the wing of feminism but, this applies to all gender. Everyone experiences misfortune and struggles before happiness and joy happen. As I've said, it's raw and relatable.
and here you are living
despite it all
OVERALL
At first, I mentioned that I did not enjoy it without even realizing that the first section plays an important role in the totality of the book. I highly recommend this if you want to read something that is a mixture of heavy and light.
Now, if you want to read this one, don't be too stiff. Allow yourself to be vulnerable as you delve into the feelings and emotions of Rupi Kaur. But to someone who is not into modern contemporary poetry and is particular with stress, rhyme, and rhythm of traditional poetry, then this book might not be for you.
RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.6/5)
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