Nu har jag läst ut poesisamlingen Milk and honey av Rupi Kaur. Rupi Kaur, född 1992 (!), föddes i Indien och migrerade till Kanada med sin familj. Hon har skrivit en diktsamling som sålt i över en miljon exemplar, och varit på New York Times bestseller list i över ett år. Och det är förståeligt. Det här en väldigt vacker bok, indelad i fyra delar: the hurting, the loving, the breaking, the healing. I boken har Kaur själv skrivit:
milk and honey is a
collection of boetry about
love
loss
trauma
abuse
healing
and femininity
it is split into four chapters
each chapter serves a different purpose
deals with a different pain
heals a different heartache
milk and honey takes readers through
a journey of the most bitter moments in life
and finds sweetness in them
because there is sweetness everywhere
if you are just willing to look.
Jag tyckte om diktsamlingen mycket. Jag läste den långsamt med pauser emellan, för det krävs eftertänksamhet när en läser poesi. Det är vackert, sorgligt, empowering och rått på samma gång. Jag vek hundöron vid de stycken jag tyckte om bäst, så här är ett axplock.
Ur the hurting
i’ve had sex she said
but i don’t know
what making love
feels like
our knees
pried open
by cousins
and uncles
and men
our bodies touched
by all the wrong people
that even in a bed full of safety
we are afraid
Ur the loving
he places his hands
on my mind
before reaching
for my waist
my hips
or my lips
he didn’t call me
beautiful first
he called me
exquisite
– how he touches me
the very thought of you
has my legs spread apart
like an easel with a canvas
begging for art
i do not want to have you
to fill the empty parts of me
i want to be full on my own
i want to be so complete
i could light a whole city
and then
i want to have you
cause the two of us combined
could set it on fire
Ur the breaking
i don’t know what living a balanced life feels like
when i am sad
i don’t cry i pour
when i am happy
i don’t smile i glow
when i am angry
i don’t yell i burn
the good thing about feeling in extreme is
when i love i give them wings
but perhaps that isn’t
such a good thing cause
they always tend to leave
and you should see me
when my heart is broken
i don’t grieve
i shatter
Ur the healing
you tell me
i am not like most girls
and learn to kiss me with your eyes closed
something about the phrase – something about
how i have to be unlike the women
i call sisters in order to be wanted
makes me want to spit your tongue out
like i am supposed to be proud you picked me
as if i should be relieved you think
i am better than them
Kaur har också gjort illustrationer till boken. Enkla och vackra som ger ytterligare en dimension till orden.
LÄS!