1. The Sun and Her Sunflowers by Rupi Kaur
You probably came across Milk and Honey at some point either on social media or at your local bookstore. Since her first poetry book was published in 2014, Rupi Kaur has become one of the most influential contemporary poets.
The Sun and Her Sunflowers deals with brokenness, identity issues, immigration, femininity, and love. She explores her sense of belonging as an immigrant in America and the duality issues it brought to her own identity, as well as the complexities of family and abuse.
Kaur also stands up for the empowerment of women. She further narrates experiences of sexuality and coming to terms with being a woman in a society that constantly tries to diminishes us. Her poetry definitely expresses a strong sense of feminism.
Her style, like most contemporary poetry, is rather simple. Her words are easily understood and her poems short. The true power of her poetry is the feeling she conveys and the impact she creates in such a compressed amount of words.
Rupi Kaur Reads Timeless from Her Poetry Collection The Sun and Her Flowerswww.youtube.com
2. Memories by Lang Leav
Lang Leav published her first poetry book in 2013 titled Love & Misadventure. However, my absolute favorite book of hers is Memories.
Her poetry narrates heartbreaking stories of past lovers as well as the search for the true meaning of love. Lang plays with different approaches to love throughout her poetry.
As a young adult, I could feel how her words reflected my own experiences. She also portrays herself as a poet through her words. She focuses on her own inspirations and how brokenness and certain people served as muses to her poetry. So, if you are an artist of any kind, you will be able to find yourself portrayed in her own words.
Her style is a bit more complex with a frequent use of metaphors and longer poems. She also varies between prose and poetry. I would say that my favorite aspect of Memories is definitely its metaphors and similes.
Instagram post by Lang Leavhttps://www.instagram.com/p/-2l9gOuVLR/
3. Flux by Orion Carloto
The most recent poetry book I have read is Flux by Orion Carloto, an Instagram influencer as well as a poet. As a young adult herself, she easily captures was it is like to be an emerging woman and having one's heartbroken. Her words reflect beautiful images of her own experiences regarding love, mourning lovers, and finding one's true self.
She creates closure with the reader by inserting pictures of her own diary entries, as well as images to accompany her writing.
Her style varies incredibly between one-line poems, one or more stanzas, and prose. Her writing is the kind of writing that you need to pause at the end of each page to realize what had just happened–– to understand the power of her words.
all about the ink on my skin + a poetry giveaway by Orion Carloto on Youtubehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX8eJclwaw8
