The Mycenaean

A poetry book about love, loss, sexuality, abuse, depression, family, and healing. 

Poetry can be a finicky topic for some readers. As the definition of poetry changes modern poetry can become less accepted and criticized for lack of form and structure. Although different, that’s what modern poetry has evolved to fit in the society of fast internet and social media. 

“homebody,” by Rupi Kaur, can be considered a controversial book today. Although modern poetry has become lax, it might be on purpose to emphasize the new times; that’s what Rupi Kaur’s books represent: freedom of thought without the hard structure of all these rules. It allows creative freedom for poetry writers, and a skill because your ideas have to still be organized enough to make sense. 

Her poetry has become a part of the new wave of poetry. It’s blunt and comes and occasionally comes across as random advice you might get from a therapist. 

Every poem in “homebody,” differs, with short simple poems besides complicated emotional poetry. As you read you see she also includes prose and personal anecdotes woven in next to the poetry. 

Kaur’s writing also feels like a diary entry; as though you’re a friend hearing Kaur’s brief thoughts and emotions. Although an interesting method of writing, I do believe it’s on purpose. Additionally, there are hardly any capitalizations or many hard punctuations, adding to the idea that these are Kaur’s thoughts, as a diary. In the margins scribbled on every piece of writing, Kaur scribbles drawings relating to the piece of poetry. The drawings sometimes come off as distracting, but a Rupi Kaur book wouldn’t be complete without the interesting scribbles in the margins as it adds to the idea of a personal vulnerable experience. Rupi Kaur can definitely be considered a new-age poet who creates modern poetry. Although modern poetry has become lax, it might be on purpose to emphasize the new times. 

As a sneak from her book, here’s one of my favorite poems from “homebody”. It’s simple yet so effective for conveying emotional turmoil. 

“there are years in me that have not slept” 

Although Kaur isn’t the first to break into this new-age poetry writing, “homebody” proves an interesting example of a non- traditional poetry book, Rupi Kaur hits the heart hard with emotional lines and vulnerable deeply personal thoughts. The first time I read “homebody,”  it was a painful experience, as it’s hard not to relate to the emotions Kaur stirs. 

I’ve read other Rupi Kaur poetry books before, but “homebody” became the first book of Kaur’s that truly spoke to me. Kaur’s book would receive a 3 out of 5 stars because of the ideas and emotions it conveys. Not any more stars though, because the writing wasn’t complex, and although personal, was not shiny and felt unfinished.