1. Read the poem 

  2. Do your own reflection on it, noting what it inspires in you

  3. Feel free to use your own reflection as your prompt or…

  4. Use the selection of prompts below the poem

  5. Pick one that inspires you and write (feel free to use only one or write several poems using different prompts) or…

  6. Don’t use any of the provided prompts and follow your inspiration from wherever it comes

I Want To Apologize…

i want to apologize to all the women I have called beautiful
before I called them intelligent or brave
i am sorry i made it sound of though
something as simple as what you’re born with
is the most you have to be proud of
when you have crushed mountains with your wit
from now on I will say things like
you are resilient or you are extraordinary
not because I don’t think you’re beautiful
but because you are so much more than that

Rupi Kaur
https://rupikaur.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rupi_Kaur.
She is a Indian born Canadian poet, who became famous on Instagram as a Instapoet andnow has a worlwide following.

Please join Writing From The Inside Out by attending the read-around sessions on Friday afternoons. It’s free, fun, a great way to share, and reading a poem is optional. If you have not registered, click the button below; and if you have registered, you do not need to register again, simply use the link sent to you in your confirmation email. Register Here:

Next Read Around is August 12, 2022 at 4:00 PM (PST)

My Thoughts

I confess that I have always been enamored with beauty in all its myriad forms: in nature, in people, in things, in ideas, in performances, etc. As a poet, beauty (both the appreciation and the expression of it) is one of my most treasured values and serves as a guiding principle in how I wish to see the world, how I want to live my life, and how I hope my work will be perceived. The shimmering surface of things, however, can easily steal our attention while the amazing, strange, and wondrous life underneath often goes unnoticed or takes a backseat to the beautiful buoyancy that holds us aloft. Rupi Kaur’s apology poem speaks to how the allure of surface beauty is especially problematic when we compliment a person, particularly a woman, for her outer beauty. A compliment for something about us that we had little part in creating may seem superficial, conciliatory, or even manipulative.  Its another vote for the veracity of the old adage not to judge a book by its cover. It is also an invitation to look deeper and find something about the person that is truly remarkable.

Prompt Menu

  1. How does beauty affect you? Journal or write about your relationship with beauty or write an ode to beauty.

  2. Journal or write a poem about how compliments impact you in general. Are you squemish with compliments? Do you tend to downplay them? Are you a sucker for flattery? Do you fish for them? Have you received or given a “back-handed” compliment? You can write about the many varietals of complements as if they are types of flowers or sea creatures or…? Or pick one type of compliement or one kind of response to complements and use it as your prompt.

  3. What happens to you when you compliment someone and they downplay it? What if they do so consistently?

  4. Rupi’s poem does not forbid complimenting a person for their beauty or appearance, just that it should not be the top thing. What would you like to be complimented for over your appearance or surface matters? (your actions, accomplishments, skills, personal qualities, etc?)

  5. A common expressed desire is the wish to “be seen.” What does being “seen” mean to you? Journal or write a poem about this experience, either when you were graced by “being seen” or when you graced another by “seeing” them.

  6. We separate compliments spatially in common parlance by reference to a “high compliment.” For instance, I heard about David Whyte and Mark Nepo, two contemporary poets I now admire, by people who turned me on to them saying my poetry was similar to theirs. After I found out who they were, I felt these were high compliments. Journal or write a poem about a high compliment you received. What made it so special?

  7. Pick someone you know and journal or write a poem about what you think is remarkable about him or her. Conversely, what do you think is remarkable about you that others may not notice?

  8. Contrast a surface feature or quality that you or others associate with a person (or with yourself) and journal or write a poem from the stem sentence...You are (or I am) so much more than (surface quality)...

  9. As usual, write about whatever else inspires you from the poem or from life.