I saw this book on display at the grocery store one day and casually picked it up and started reading it. The next thing I knew, my husband had already checked out and was waiting for me to leave. I put the book down but immediately reserved it from the library and got it the following week. In the store, it was this poem that made me realize I had to finish the entire book:
every time you / tell your daughter / you yell at her / out of love / you teach her to confuse / anger with kindness / which seems like a good idea / till she grows up to / trust men who hurt her / cause they look so much / like you
That particular poem just spoke to me. When I got the book from the library, I read it all in one sitting (rereading all the parts I had previously read at the store) and it was beautiful. These poems are for women, mostly. Women who have experienced pain and love and loss. I believe everyone will be able to relate to at least one poem in here; I know many resonated with me.
Rupi Kaur takes us on a journey through the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing in life, illustrating every other poem with a line drawing that is so connected with the poem that it becomes part of the poem. This is the kind of poetry collection I could see myself rereading when I am sad or broken. It has that kind of healing effect.
Here is another of my favourite quotations, one that shows the self-worth of a woman is not dependent on what a man thinks. I just love the meaning behind this:
the next time he / points out the / hair on your legs is / growing back remind / that boy your body / is not his home / he is a guest / warn him to / never outstep / his welcome / again
No comments:
Post a Comment