the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur
Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2017
Genre: Poetry
Rating: 4/5
A beautiful collection of poetry, verse and illustrations by Rupi Kaur, a Canadian from a Punjabi-Sikh immigrant family. Her second collection, this one is divided into five distinctive chapters – wilting, falling, rooting, rising and blooming. Each chapter provides a glimpse of the cyclical nature of life, mirrored in the life cycle of simple flower.
- The grief associated with the loss of love, that wilts the soul:
it isn’t what we left behind
that breaks me
it’s what we could’ve built
had we stayed
- The feelings of self-abandonment and low self-esteem that comes from falling to the depths of your emotions:
a lot of times
we are angry at other people
for not doing what
we should have done for ourselves
— responsibility
- The grounding life force that is found when you seek the healing nature of your roots:
remember the body
of your community
breathe in the people
who sewed you whole
it is you who became yourself
but those before you
are a part of your fabric
— honor the roots
- The nourishment provided by love that gives rise to your soul:
the orange trees refused to blossom
unless we bloomed first
when we met
they wept tangerines
can’t you tell
the earth has waited its whole life for this
— celebration
- And finally the empowerment to find yourself again, blooming into the beauty that is you:
it is a blessing
to be the color of earth
do you know how often
flowers confuse me for home
The collection is criticized by some for its lack of ‘true’ poetic structure, giving rise to the question as to what really defines poetry. Are these poems or simply Twitter postings musing on life? To me, it doesn’t really matter. Poetry is any collection of words that leap off the page and tug at your heart and make your soul vibrate. As a result, I thoroughly enjoyed Rupi’s perspective on love, loss, healing, femininity, community and migration. She speaks with honesty and integrity. If that doesn’t count as poetry, so be it. It is still a beautiful book, and one you will want to share with your friends.
Enjoy!
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