Book Review | The Sun and Her Flowers

Title: The Sun and Her Flowers
Author: Rupi Kaur

The Blurb

Divided into five chapters and illustrated by Kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.

this is the recipe of life
said my mother
as she held me in her arms as i wept
think of those flowers you plant
in the garden each year
they will teach you
that people too
must wilt
fall
root
rise
in order to bloom

I really like Rupi Kaur ever since Milk and Honey that I had high expectation on this one. The blurb got me so excited. The cover gives a sense of positivity in it just as much as we see hope in sunflowers. They are so vibrant. I think it fits this cycle of the flower mentioned above. It matches the quote I’ve been loving for quite a while now: “Nothing in nature blooms all year round—be patient with yourself”.

The Style

As mentioned in the blurb, this poetry book is divided into 5 parts: wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. Though I think that not all pieces are placed well in each category, it is still well written.

Kaur knows how to tell her story in verses and she does it really well. Her poems are very upfront and genuine.

Wilting is about losing someone and missing people who left you behind.

Kaur opens the 1st part with:

on the last day of love
my heart cracked inside my body

I don’t think there’s something special on this next entry but Kaur ends it so beautifully:

rise
said the moon
and the new day came
the show must go on said the sun
life does not stop for anybody
it drags you by the legs
whether you want to move forward or not
that is the gift
life will force you to forget how you long for them
your skin will shed till there is not
a single part of you left they’ve touched
your eyes finally just your eyes
not the eyes which held them
you will make it to the end
of what is only the beginning
go on
open the door to the rest of it

Falling talks about failures and heartaches. It depicts loneliness and attempts to turn anxiety into words.

this place makes me
the kind of exhausted that has
nothing to do with sleep
and everything to do with
the people around me

As I mentioned above, I don’t know why this quote is under Falling:

you do not just wake up and become a butterfly
– growth is a process

I think it will connect more in Rooting or Rising. Nonetheless, it’s probably one of my most favorite line from the book.

The verses from the blurb is the ending piece of the 2nd chapter.

Rooting is literally about Kaur’s root. It tells a story of immigrants and how rigorous it is to leave home.

leaving her country
was not easy for my mother
i still catch her searching for it
in foreign films
and international food isle

This part really ends all racists!!!! It’s very important!!!!

my voice
is the offspring
of two countries colliding
what is there to be ashamed of
if english
and my mother tongue
made love
my voice
is her father’s words
and mother’s accent
what does it matter if
my mouth carries two worlds

Kaur is only referring to accent, how can it be this good? I don’t think accents should be an issue. It isn’t important how you sound when you talk in another language. What matters is you can. At least you have your fair share of trying to break barriers. At least you are bilingual (or multi, or polyglot).

Rising is about new beginnings and opportunities, welcoming new love and all types of it. This part empowers you to get better and you know you will. It strengthens us.

we must learn to focus on warm energy. always. soak our limbs in it and become better lovers to the world. for if we can’t learnt to be kind to each other how will we ever learn to be kind to the most desperate parts of ourselves.

Finally, Blooming. Oh, how I love spring. So so much.

the universe took its time on you
crafted you to offer the world
something different from everyone else
when you doubt
how you were created
you doubt an energy greater than us both

Ah. What a lovely way to start this chapter with this piece.

This one verse from the book really made me think.

look down at your body
whisper
there is no home like you
—thank you

It hits home. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like I am completely home. Some say that home is not a place but a person. Maybe. Others say it is not a place but a feeling. Perhaps. But, what if the home we are looking for is ourselves? What if we may never find our way home because we can’t fully accept ourselves? What if the key to finally open the door to our home is to love ourselves; to open our hearts to ourselves? It’s gonna be a long way. I hope we get there.

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.

Haist. So goooood. I love poetry so so much. This is accepting yourself:

it is a blessing
to be the color of earth
do you know how often
flowers confuse me for home

You might think Blooming is the most beautiful moment. Personally, I think the whole point of this book is to make us feel comforted in whatever season and part of the cycle we are in. Ironically, there is solace in knowing that things change; that we are not going to stay sad and miserable all our life. And that goes for happiness, too. Life is fleeting. Make sure all moments count.

Let me end this review with this quote:

the road to changing the world
is never-ending

My Rating

 

 

 

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