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Rupi Kaur details how she went from self-published student poet to the top of the New York Times best-seller list with fans like Sam Smith tattooing her artwork, plus she shares a poem from her second collection, The Sun and Her Flowers.
 

Jimmy: "I am so happy that you're here." 
Rupi: "I thought I had to be a pop-star or an actress to get here but somehow poetry is getting me into all the biggest places."
Jimmy: "When I first say 'milk and honey' on the New York Times (best-sellers list), I was like, 'What is this? Who is this girl?' The drawings, the poetry, you do all of it right? What's your story, how did you get published." 
Rupi: "

-moved to canada at age 4

-couldn't talk

-starting drawing and using poetry

-starting going to open mic's 

-readers demanded a book

-no one would publish

-jk rowling inspiration and then self published, actually by herself

-missed exams but parents understood after the fact

Jimmy: "One famous person got a tattoo from one of your drawings."
Rupi: "Sam Smith... "
Jimmy: "I know you perform live a lot. You have to continue to do that!"
Rupi: "It's when I come to life. I get to be, it sounds really dramatic, I feel like I get to be the woman of my dreams when I'm on stage. This whole different person comes out and it's incredible." 

Jimmy: "Could I ask you to read something for us tonight?" 
Rupi: "I wrote this piece called 'timeless' because I published my first book 'milk and honey' and a lot of people around me were telling me I need to write a second book, catch the wave of somebody else is gonna come and replace me. I was 22 and it was so much pressure. So I wrote this poem to sort of say, 'Stop, I'll do it when I'm ready.' It's called 'timeless': 


They convinced me I only had a few good years left

before I was replaced by a girl younger than me. 

As though men yield power with age but women grow into irrelevance. 

They can keep their lies for I have just gotten started, I feel as though I just left the womb.

My 20's are the warm up for what I'm really about to do. 

So wait till you see me in my 30's, now that will be a proper introduction into the nasty, wild woman in me. 

 How can I leave before the party has started? Rehearsals begin at 40. 

I ripen with age, I do not come with an expiration date. 

And now for the main event, curtains up at 50. 
Let's begin the show. 

Jimmy: "Thank you so much. Thank you for making the world a better place." 

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Harijot Singh Khalsa

Harijot Singh Khalsa

Harijot Singh is a graduate of Miri Piri Academy. He serves as creator of SikhNet Stories. He has also authored several research pieces on Sikh history as well as offered encouraging messages through his articles.

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