MILK AND HONEY, SOMETHING YOU NEED TO READ.

Milk and Honey

- Rupi Kaur

Genre: Poetry

Pages: 208

Format: Poetry Collection in four parts

Rating: 4.5/5

Rupi Kaur has been commonly named the ‘voice of this generation’ and I for one would agree with that, as a woman from an ethnic minority background, I am proud to see Rupi doing well within the literary world. This poet started her career on Instagram, hence her common title of ‘Insta Poet’, this new generation of poets allowed for a new element of creativity within the poetry world, through the use of unique forms and artwork; as well as an easier way to show expression and thought. Two themes that this collection explores very well.

Before I get into the nitty gritty aspects of the review, here is a short summary courtesy of Waterstones.com:

Canadian poet Rupi Kaur’s poetry started as a series on Instagram before Kaur self-published a collected volume, Milk and Honey, which quickly became a US bestseller.

The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose; deals with a different pain; heals a different heartache.

Milk and Honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

Rupi’s choice of form and style is something that I have not come across before, in her forward she explains that this style is a fusion of English and Gurmukhi, ‘ a script in which Punjabi is written’. I love how she chose to represent the fusion of cultures within her literally within the pages of the collection. This form is an interesting one, as its simplicity is deceiving, the reader assumes that there is not much in it but in fact its simplicity is what creates the deeper meaning of each individual poem. I am not going to lie with some of the poems I do wish for just a little bit extra that I can sink my teeth into, but you might disagree and love them more.

Being from the same ethnic background as Rupi, I felt like I could relate to her on a more personal level especially towards the end of the collection in the poem on page 176 (there are no titles at all, which makes it very hard to reference). Here she discusses the importance of the name Kaur, which is something that all Sikhi girls have in common, and something of the poem just really resonated with me, personally.

           

“serve the sisterhood

                        to raise those that need raising

                        the name kaur runs in my blood

                        it was in me before the world itself existed

                        it is my identity and my liberation”

- kaur a woman of sikhi

There is something about this collection that makes it feel like Rupi is that best friend who just really ‘gets you’, I think that is down to the clever concept of the four chapters/sections; the hurting, the loving, the breaking, the healing. She shares the momentous occasions that occur in our everyday mundane life, giving a voice to what we normally would keep voiceless like heartbreak, but also happiness; this broad depth of emotion empowered me as a reader and showed that I was not alone in my experiences, and I think you’ll find you have the same experience.

           

“every revolution

                        starts and ends

                        with his lips”

I love the concept of the illustrations! They add to the story being told on the page and add something that words just can’t. The best and most striking illustration is on page 5, I love the way that the form of the poem and the illustration merge together to create the one image. When glancing at collection I have realised that all of these illustrations fall on the right page, was that intentional? I guess that is something to delve deeper into!

Despite there being a vast array of poetry within this collection , I do feel like some of it was irrelevant or just there to fill a quota. Mainly because they just did not leave an impact with me, or I did not understand their relevance within the section; I love my poetry to be something to unpack and open up and some of this was just too simple for me. But, I feel like that is due to the English student in me, I can definitely understand the appeal of these simple poems, they get the point across with no flowery language or anything to decipher making it more audience friendly.

“love is not cruel

we are cruel

love is not a game

we have made a game

out of love”

I have to say that I really enjoyed my experience with this collection, I have never read poetry outside of my university set reading and I am glad I took the leap and got stuck in. I do think that the hype surrounding this collection was excessive, but that was due to this being a piece of work that discussed dark topics openly, something that is not normally done, in my opinion. I would definitely recommend that you give this a try, it will open your mind to new thoughts and spark emotions in ways in which you did not know were possible!