By Luijhoana Z. Acuña - Education career student
According to Flanagan (2019), “poetry is the chiseled marble of language. It is a paint-spattered canvas, but the poet uses words instead of paint, and the canvas is you” (par. 4). Poetry’s reluctance to be defined is what makes it even more plausible that one book to be read before reaching the dusk of days would be The Sun and Her Flowers. It is a collection of poetry by Indian-born Canadian author Rupi Kaur. The book describes a journey of growth and healing, honoring one’s beginnings, what it is like to be a woman in a man driven society, and how to lift yourself to find a home within the walls composing your body. The majority of people spend most of their living experience on autopilot. At times, they lose their way and avoid feeling anything other than numb, perhaps due to the constant demands of a world where instant satisfaction is hugely regarded; reaching out to Rupi Kaur’s poetry book will most certainly make the buds of their minds bloom into flowers.
Just how chicken soup has the ability to heal souls, The Sun and Her Flowers masters to touch one’s heart. Hence, transforming the reader’s perspective and awakening a long sleeping spirit. It ensures an awakening of feelings by depicting preeminent emotions that all human beings go through at some point during their lives. Although the author addresses raw topics that may be uncomfortable for some readers, her writing remains insightful by proving how people cannot simply cover their eyes to things that they do not want to see, and it brings a sense of compassion for human vulnerability to the table. The Sun and Her Flowers is a work of art that alternates between softness and rawness, and it is that peculiar balance of hope and pain that makes the reader relate to Kaur’s written compositions.
"It was when I stopped searching for home within others and lifted the foundations 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" (Kaur, 2017). The book is filled with a compilation of meaningful quotes that will take the readers directly beneath the author’s flesh and bones. Rupi Kaur shows her storytelling skills by accomplishing to tell a compelling story via a set of short heartfelt poems. She manages to connect with the audience on a personal level. And she does it through real-life stories divided into five chapters wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and finishing with the uplifting blooming. The later will leave a lingering feeling of hope and optimism in the reader.
As a summary, Rupi Kaur invades the crevices of the mind of whoever is valiant enough to go through a journey that starts with wilting and ends with blooming. Her words are able to lend a healing hand and awaken the parts of the soul that the world has decided to put on hibernation. The arduous circumstances that gave birth to this poetry piece inspire the reader to face whatever difficulties lay ahead with an optimistic point of view. A point of view that begins with loving oneself. Kaur (2017) states “we need more love not from men but from ourselves and each other”. Self-love, acceptance, forgiveness, loneliness, homesickness, courage, and ache are among the central topics within the 37 pages of this magnificent book of poetry that every person needs to read before leaving this earth.
