Why Rupi Kaur Is a Poet

I see everywhere people angrily calling out Rupi Kaur and saying, "She is not a poet," or, "She doesn't write poetry." I always sit in disbelief when I see these words. I am put into two states: 1. being confused if they even bothered to read her novels and 2. if they honestly think she is not a 'poet' or if they just simply do not like her style of poetry.

As I sit in disbelief that people think she is not a poet, I try to close my mind to fit into their mold and see if she really is not what I see her as.

I reread her first poetry book, Milk and Honey with the mind of hating it. I went through the novel in less than a day and still after reading for the second time the words still managed to pull on my heartstring. I understand why people can see her as a fad but in all honesty there are no real ways to be considered a poet. I think as long as what you are writing manages to help people fell some sort of way, you are a poet. I often find myself listening to music at times like Tupac and think that this guy was a poet at its finest. Maybe Tupac or Rupi's words don't align like a haiku but their words are so simple yet sting like an open wound.

Rupi's words resonate. She is fantastic at writing the simplest of words yet making me feel like a thousand of emotions. I understand her pain on a different level. I understand her love, but on a different level. I am able to relate to her even though our life paths never crossed.

My only flaw with Rupi's art is that she tends to romanticize things that are not meant to be romanticized. She finds beauty even in the pain. She finds beauty in the things people think are not beautiful.

I am still in the middle of her second book, called The Sun and Her Flowers. I am fascinated with her words and will continue to pay for her art. She is a muse. I enjoy the format of her books and how she even separates the novels into four parts, allowing people to skim to the part they may need most.

She is creating a new boundary in poetry, allowing people to just write what they feel the most without making it strict or in a certain format. As an aspiring writer, I found comfort in knowing my words don't have to fit a certain format in order to still be considered poetry. Or that my words can still sting someone's heart without using big words or long paragraphs.

More than half of the book, Milk and Honey has pages split in half, and folded pages to remind me to go back to these pages. Those pages made me feel something. I want to always remember those pages. I want to always be able to locate those words as quick as possible and never forget the knot in my stomach I get when I read her work.

Rupi Kaur is art. Her poetry is art. Give her a chance and if you still do not like her than just never buy her art but please, stop saying she is not a poet.

Just because she separates her lines and people perceive her as 'pretentious' does not mean she is not making something she loves; she is making art. Her words are the embodiment of passion. Milk and Honey is her story, her wounds, her tragedy, yet still she found love at the end.

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