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A review by asami_kukomi
The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
Very beautiful collection of poems.
I really loved and resonated with the chapter 'Rooting'. I also immigrated with my parents to a new country when I was five. This chapter really made me stop and take time to reflect, and be grateful for all the things my parents have done and gone through, and for all the opportunities that I have because of their decision to immigrate to a new foreign country.
I especially loved the poem Broken English.
i think about the way my father
pulled the family out of poverty
without knowing what a vowel was
and my mother raised four children
without being able to construct
a perfect sentence in English
a discombobulated couple that landed in the new world
with hopes that left the bitter taste of rejection in their mouths
no family
no friends
just man and wife
two university degrees that meant nothing
one mother tongue that was broken now
one swollen belly with a baby inside
and a father worried about jobs and rent
cause no matter what this baby was coming
and they thought to themselves for a split second
was it worth it to put all of our money
into the dream of a country that's swallowing us whole?
papa looks at his woman's eyes
and sees loneliness living where the iris was
wants to give her a home in a country that looks at her
with the word visitor wrapped around their tongue
on their wedding day
she left an entire village to be his wife
and now she left an entire country to be a warrior
and when the winter came they had nothing
but the heat of their own bodies to keep the coldness out
like two brackets they faced one another
to hold the dearest parts of them
their children close
they turned a suitcase full of clothes
into a life and regular paychecks
to make sure that the children of immigrants
wouldn't hate them for being the children of immigrants
they worked too hard
you can tell by their hands
their eyes were begging for sleep
but our mouths were begging to be fed
and that is the most artistic thing I have ever seen
it is poetry to these ears
that has never heard what passion sounds like
and my mouth is full of likes and uhms
i look at their masterpiece
cause there are no words in the english language
that can articulate that kind of beauty
i can't compact their existence
into 26 letters and call it a description
i tried once but the adjectives
needed to describe them don't even exist
so instead i ended up with pages and pages full of words
followed by commas and more words and more comas
only to realize that there are some things in the world
so infinite they can never use a full stop
so how dare you mock your mother
when she opens her mouth
and broken English spills out
don't be ashamed of the fact
that she spit through countries to be here
so you wouldn't have to cross a shoreline
her accent is thick like honey
hold it with your life
it's the only thing she has left from home
don't you stomp on that richness
instead hang it up on the walls
of museums next to Dali and Van Gogh
her life is brilliant and tragic
kiss the side of her tender cheek
she already knows what it sounds like
to have an entire nation laugh when she speaks
she's more than our punctuation and language
we might be able to paint pictures and write stories
but she made an entire world for herself
how is that for art?
I really loved and resonated with the chapter 'Rooting'. I also immigrated with my parents to a new country when I was five. This chapter really made me stop and take time to reflect, and be grateful for all the things my parents have done and gone through, and for all the opportunities that I have because of their decision to immigrate to a new foreign country.
I especially loved the poem Broken English.
pulled the family out of poverty
without knowing what a vowel was
and my mother raised four children
without being able to construct
a perfect sentence in English
a discombobulated couple that landed in the new world
with hopes that left the bitter taste of rejection in their mouths
no family
no friends
just man and wife
two university degrees that meant nothing
one mother tongue that was broken now
one swollen belly with a baby inside
and a father worried about jobs and rent
cause no matter what this baby was coming
and they thought to themselves for a split second
was it worth it to put all of our money
into the dream of a country that's swallowing us whole?
papa looks at his woman's eyes
and sees loneliness living where the iris was
wants to give her a home in a country that looks at her
with the word visitor wrapped around their tongue
on their wedding day
she left an entire village to be his wife
and now she left an entire country to be a warrior
and when the winter came they had nothing
but the heat of their own bodies to keep the coldness out
like two brackets they faced one another
to hold the dearest parts of them
their children close
they turned a suitcase full of clothes
into a life and regular paychecks
to make sure that the children of immigrants
wouldn't hate them for being the children of immigrants
they worked too hard
you can tell by their hands
their eyes were begging for sleep
but our mouths were begging to be fed
and that is the most artistic thing I have ever seen
it is poetry to these ears
that has never heard what passion sounds like
and my mouth is full of likes and uhms
i look at their masterpiece
cause there are no words in the english language
that can articulate that kind of beauty
i can't compact their existence
into 26 letters and call it a description
i tried once but the adjectives
needed to describe them don't even exist
so instead i ended up with pages and pages full of words
followed by commas and more words and more comas
only to realize that there are some things in the world
so infinite they can never use a full stop
so how dare you mock your mother
when she opens her mouth
and broken English spills out
don't be ashamed of the fact
that she spit through countries to be here
so you wouldn't have to cross a shoreline
her accent is thick like honey
hold it with your life
it's the only thing she has left from home
don't you stomp on that richness
instead hang it up on the walls
of museums next to Dali and Van Gogh
her life is brilliant and tragic
kiss the side of her tender cheek
she already knows what it sounds like
to have an entire nation laugh when she speaks
she's more than our punctuation and language
we might be able to paint pictures and write stories
but she made an entire world for herself
how is that for art?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault