'Milk and Honey' by Rupi Kaur

 

'Milk and Honey' (2014) is a poetry collection about breaking, hurting, loving and healing. It is not challenging to read or largely poetic, but it would be unfair to discredit what this work achieves. I see many people claiming that Kaur is not a 'real' poet nor a good writer at all. I would disagree. Poetry, like all other art forms is about expression. 'Milk and Honey' is charged with passion, emotion, pain, encouragement and beauty. For her to take her experiences and transform them into a book that can (and has) helped others - is admirable. It is worth noting that people once said the same thing about the likes of Virginia Woolf and modernist writers who challenged the way we define literature. If a piece of work has the ability to move or impact another human, I would argue it is art. 

The rise of so-called 'Instagram poetry' is not for everyone, but opening our minds to new styles like this is surely what makes us grow as a society. The very fact that this is written like snippets of a diary entry is what makes it feel so intimate and comforting. Personally, Kaur's prose/poetry made me feel understood. The message that her work gives out is a bold one - one that refuses to be silenced - and that is what poetry is all about. Poetry is about saying 'I am here. I have something to say.' To add, there are pieces of hers that are metaphorical. It may be subtle, but it is there. Overall, this work helped me through some tough times and oozed raw emotion. For that reason, I would recommend this work to anyone that is new to poetry, or simply wants to feel some earnest emotion.