Milk and Honey

by Rupi Kaur

[ibeforem]

I don't often read poetry, but one of the prompts for the Read Harder challenge is "Read an audiobook of poetry" and I've heard of this one for a long time so I decided to give it a shot.

Milk and Honey is a collection broken into four parts, each with a different theme -- the hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. The result is a roller coaster ride of hurt, heartbreak, elation, and strength. Content warning: there is talk of sexual abuse and rape. There is some debate about whether what Kaur has written qualifies as poetry, but I think poetry is very subjective. Whether they are technically "poems" or not, I found much of her writing quite powerful. Some of my favorite parts:

"you tell me to quiet down cause
my opinions make me less beautiful
but i was not made with a fire in my belly
so i could be put out
i was not made with a lightness on my tongue
so i could be easy to swallow
i was made heavy
half blade and half silk
difficult to forget and not easy
for the mind to follow"

"i know the small talk is the only way you know how to tell me you love me, cause it is the only way i know how to tell you."

However.

This book does not work as an audiobook. I had difficulty understanding the structure and when one piece ended and another piece began. I actually stopped listening at the end of the 3rd part, bought the Kindle version, read that, and then finished the audio version. You really need to see the words on the page and the additional artwork to feel the full impact.

But all in all, I'm glad I spent the time on this.