Three and a half years ago, Rupi Kaur published her first poetry book, Milk and Honey. The book has sold over 1 million copies since, has been translated into over thirty different languages, and landed a spot on the New York Best sellers list every week for a year straight. Milk and Honey is broken up into four parts: the hurting, the loving, the breaking and the healing. Kaur speaks of personal trauma, heartbreak, love and loss. She released her second collection of poetry, The Sun and Her Flowers, last year.
Milk and Honey sparked a trend among young women purchasing and reading poetry books such as R.H Sin’s Whiskey Words & a Shovel as well as Amanda Lovelace’s The Princess Saves Herself. Awareness of these books stemmed from women posting their favorite passages on Twitter, Instagram, VSCO and Tumblr. While these kinds of books have become infamous among young adult women, most men are virtually unaware of them.
We decided to find out what guys really think of emotional poetry. We spoke to three different guys at the University of Scranton to get their opinion on a few of Milk and Honey’s most renowned passages.
**Disclaimer: We have renamed the guys names for their anonymity purposes.
Meet Chad: Chad is a wild card. He enjoys being single, but he isn’t opposed to settling down if he found the right girl.
Meet Brad: Brad has recently gotten out of a toxic relationship. He is now casually dating and focusing on himself, while exploring the single lifestyle.
Meet Thad: Thad is single!! He is very involved around campus and enjoys spending time with his friends. He is known for being a respectful and sweet guy.
1.
Chad: “Well, it’s got some irony in it… I think you need to develop yourself first. How can you take care of someone else when you can’t even take care of yourself?”
Brad: “Wow, that’s so mushy, but basically I think she is saying she’s not looking to be codependent. You have to find your own source of happiness.”
Us: “Do you agree with this?”
Brad: “100%. If you aren’t the source of your own happiness, you’ll never be happy.”
Thad: “I feel like that relates to me a lot. I was in a relationship before and we both weren’t our own people, so it didn’t work out. You need to develop as your own person before you get into a relationship.”
2.
Chad: “I do agree that you have to be friends first to get to know her whole personality. Guys need to appreciate girls’ inner beauty not just their outer beauty.”
Brad: “Well… he’s got better manners than me. At this age, it’s natural to fall in love with the body at first. Lust over love.”
Thad: “Hmm… that’s a good one. Basically the way that I see that is that this guy showed he was interested in more than just her body. He was interested in what she had to say. That’s the foundation of a good relationship.”
3.
Chad: “I think there are a lot of different variables when it comes to liking someone. A guy not pursing you may not be a bad thing. For instance, if he is good friends with a girl, he may not want to ruin the friendship in pursuit of a relationship.”
Brad: “So basically, boys start thinking that girls are playing games, then boys start playing games and then they’re both not on the same page. It is all about the chase. You also can’t waste a moment, don’t dwell on one person, move on. It is important to find a balance between not being too “easy” or available and also showing you are interested.”
Thad: “I interpreted that as Rupi Kaur warning a girl to see a man how he is. If a man is bad (salt) a girl cannot attempt to change him into something else (sweet like sugar.) People always remain how they are.”