Book Review: the sun and her flowers by rupi kaur

i am a product of all the ancestors getting together and deciding these stories need to be told – Rupi Kaur, poet

The book, the sun and her flowers is a deep camaraderie of words by the lucky poet Rupi Kaur.

This being her second book, after milk and honey, she has not deviated a bit from her ways; short, pithy and thought-provoking poems.

This second book which has sold over 1.5 million copies, speaks about grief, self-abandonment, love and empowerment.

Rupi has a knack for capturing a lot in a few lines. For example, she speaks for the women, the loneliness, the awakening and empowerment.

She speaks about the role women should play in the 21st century very aptly.

In the poem progress, she says ‘our work should equip the next generation of women to outdo us in every field. This is the legacy we’ll leave behind’.

I call her lucky because she lives in a world where piracy is not a big issue. That one can get away with christening what can pass as Twitter or Facebook posts as poetry and make a lot of money from it.

From my calculations, the 1.5 million copies might only be in North America, not counting the sales in Europe, Asia and Africa. That alone at the price of translating to Ksh1500 multiplied, brings about Ksh2.25 billion.

That’s huge.

For her short, pithy and simple language poetry, she’s been criticised for being too plain, someone who cannot ‘rightfully’ earn critical acclaim or stand in the halls of poetry giants.

“Kaur produces bite-size, accessible poems. Their free verse poetry eschews difficult metaphors in favour of clear, plain language, and this accessibility is precisely what has garnered the new wave of “Instapoets” such a large and dedicated following”, Buzz feed writes in the problem with Rupi Kaur’s poetry

However, she is famous and appeals to any lover of poetry nonetheless.

As for me, I like her meaning, the deep meaning in her poems. Kaur speaks from the heart, makes it easy to relate, she pours out words that are hard to state in happiness and in sadness. She is a great!

the sun and her flowers, is divided into four parts ‘wilting’, ‘falling’, ‘rooting’, ‘rising’, and ‘blooming’. Which actually captures a bad start and a good ending; an overcoming of the hardships.

At the end of her book, she says:

‘And then there are days when the simple act of

Breathing leaves you exhausted. It seems easier to

Give up on this life. The thought of disappearing

Brings you peace. For so long i was lost in a

Place where there was no sun. Where there grew

No flowers. But every once in a while out of the

Darkness something i loved would emerge and

Bring me to life again. Witnessing a starry sky.

The lightness of laughing with old friends.

A reader who told me the poems had saved their

Life. Yet here i was struggling to save my own.

My darlings. Living is difficult. It is difficult for

Everybody. But we must resist the urge of

Succumbing to those difficulties. Refuse to bow

Before bad days. Bad months or bad years. Our eyes

Are starting to feast on this world. There are too

Many turquoise bodies of water left for us to dive

Into. There is family. Blood or chosen. The possibility

Of falling in love. With people and places. Hills

High as teh moon. Valleys rolling into new worlds.

Road trips. I find it deeply important to accept that

We are not hte masters of this place. We are her

Visitors. So like the guest that we are. Let’s enjoy

This place like a garden. Let us treat it with a gentle

Hand. So the ones after us can enjoy it too. And

When the darkness comes. Let’s find our own sun.

Grow our own flowers. The universe delivered us

With the light and the seeds. We might not hear it

At times but the music is always on.

It just needs to be turned a little louder.

For as long as there is

Breath in our lungs – we must keep dancing.’

She is a rebel, a good rebel breaking the glass ceiling.

She is popular for her words, because ‘her mass appeal lies in her perceived universality, with her fans often claiming that she vocalizes feelings they have not been able to put into words’.

I recommend this Sunday Times bestseller in your book shelves and I sure will buy, read and review her third book #MeToo when it comes to these shores.

it was when i stopped searching for home within others

and lifted the fundatios of home within myself

i found there were no roots more intimate

than those between a mind and body

that have decided to be whole

-rupi kaur