When You Ask Me Where I’m Going by Jasmin Kaur
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I am so impressed with this beautiful book. People will compare it to Rupi Kaur’s poetry but I feel that Jasmin goes so much deeper on topics like immigration, feminism and mental health. She does not shy away from her Punjabi heritage and I appreciated that. Her poetry is amazing and her prose are stunning as well. I can’t wait to read more by Jasmin Kaur.
I got carried away with how many passages I highlighted in my kindle that I wanted to revisit. But here are just a couple parts that I want to share:
want to get better
but i’m in the habit
of scrubbing the walls
clean only to redecorate
identically.
of running for so long
i somehow end up
where i started.
of returning
to all the places
that hurt.
And especially this…
why write something that you’re already running from? why paint something that doesn’t keep you up at night? we don’t half-heartedly love, so why half-heartedly create? know that this dizzying work doesn’t need to be universal. it doesn’t need to sacrifice identity for appeal or melanated skin for ears. your metaphors don’t need to be watered down and your brushstrokes don’t need to follow a trajectory that was never yours to begin with. this art spans far beyond image. it has the potential to heal you. to break you. to expand you. to birth a new you. your work. your heart. means so much more than the hollow gaze of a hollow audience. love, the way your art draws air into your own lungs has always been reason enough.
A huge thank you goes to the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book for review. This in no way impacts my review and all opinions are my own.
preeti reads 