Stop Glorifying Milk and Honey

too many people

glorify

milk and honey.

let’s be clear.

this

is

not

poetry.

there is nothing

meaningful

or intrinsically literary

about line breaks

and

bullshit.

this is not

literature.

this is not

poetry.

this is a

disgustingly easy

parody.

this is a

c-grade attempt

to be “deep”.

this is using

shallow fluff

and passing

it off as

quality.

it is not.

it is an insult

to poets everywhere.

it is an insult

to every great

writer

who labors

over word play

and actual content.

look how easy it is

to imitate.

watch:

the screen is bright

with miniature people

moving across it

i laugh because

it’s family guy

or

his eyes are blue

like the ocean

and when i look at him

i realize

his eyes are blue

or

my eyes

follow you

round and round

you calm me

cause you’re a

fidget spinner

but the thing

that makes

the new-age-tumblr

wanna-be-poet

style infuriating

is that it

takes away meaning from

her content.

the impact of

female poets of color,

of issues of feminism,

sexuality and love

are pushed to the background

because

line breaks and lowercase

don’t mean shit.

(and adding

minimalistic sketches

are vague excuses of

artistic expression).

rather, they

distract,

they confuse,

and they distance

from the content.

they take meaningful

issues and

make them

superficial.

such writing,

such god-awful

attempts to be

deep,

needs to stop.

if you want to

glorify poetry,

if you want to

read good literature,

glorify:

audre lorde

warshan shire

maya angelou

or nayyirah waheed.

but do not glorify this.

Photo: 1, 2

• literature
• milk and honey
• poetry
• Rupi Kaur
• the sun and her flowers
• writing