Our knees
pried open
by cousins
and uncles
and men
our bodies touched
by all the wrong people
that even in a bed full of safety
we are afraid

- Rupi Kaur

Some days
When I wake up
My glass is half full.

Some days
When I wake up
My glass is half empty.

///

Tonight
Before bed
I threw it against the wall.

Tomorrow
When I wake up
I’ll realize that was plenty.

Today I saw a human
That used to be a stranger
Until we realized that through each other
We could dissect our inner angers

So piece by piece
We sat together
& picked my brain apart
Until I found out that it started
During the first trimester
when I evolved & grew a heart

///

(My attempt at describing
the way that I interpret life)
-Imagine the broken plate haiku-

I’ll be the plate
& the world can be the spite
That shattered me on the floor
Just to get me out of sight

Only this time the “sorry”
Actually brings me back to life
But each time a piece is missing
& it’s on repeat for every night.

A princess of poets, Miss Kaur
Was promoted through publishing's power.
Scrawling lines for a hobby,
This perky Punjabi
Turned rupees to dollars per hour

I tremble at the thought of

falling in love with a

tiny part of someone

and mistaking it

for the whole

-rupi kaur

{You may not have been my first love, but you were the love that made all the other loves irrelevant.}
- rupi kaur

When I think of you,
I get this overwhelming feeling in my chest. May-
be you feel it too. I am not
crazy, for I have
searched for something like this. My
third attempt, and here you are. First,
we must “get to know each other”, my love.

I hear what you’re saying, but
I cannot love
you, it is not possible. Were
you really that dumb? To think the
handsome boy would love
you? What ever you felt, that
was not real. See, I made
you. I made you love all
that there was to see. The
other guys that chased after you? The others
would have been a better choice. Loves
a funny thing, it’s really just irrelevant.

{Stay i whispered, as you shut the door behind you.}
-rupi kaur

All I ever wanted was for him to stay,
stay and never leave, I
believe that we were toxic for each other. When i whispered
into the night. Walking away as
if it were the only thing you
knew how to do. “Shut
up and listen to me when I talk to you.” The
anger that poured out of my mouth, as if an open door.
But you did go, and you left me behind.
I never thought I’d hate someone, the way I hate you.

I never wanted to stay
with her, all the pain that i
caused her. The way she whispered
in the night. As
if a warning. “You
never loved me.” The last words I heard before I shut
it all out. I needed to escape the
one thing that was good for me. I put up a door
and left it locked. I left you behind,
I will never stop loving you.