The Rise of Instapoetry | By Britney Wong Jing Wen
Illustrations by Annette, Clarissa & Naddina
“Roses are red,
Violets are blue
Sugar is sweet
And so are you.”
Sound familiar? Surely most of us have heard of this poem which has now become a cliche when celebrating Valentine’s day. Poetry can be seen as a form of literature with rhymes and aesthetic phrases which can be traced back to the 23rd century BCE. To preserve these aesthetic forms of writing and to support linguistic diversity, World Poetry Day is held on 21 March annually.
While classical poems from the likes of William Shakespeare, Homer and Charles Wright aren’t always the most popular pieces, most of us still do have a certain understanding of poetry. Most Malaysian students who sit for the SPM will have to study poems such as the iconic What Has Happened to Lulu?. Recently, poetry has regained some of its lost popularity, with more and more poems being posted on Instagram and other social media platforms. Humans are often more attracted to visually pleasing images which is why insta poetry appeals greatly to mass audiences as they are often embellished with minimalist illustrations and aesthetic fonts. Though the word ‘instapoetry’ has yet to make it into the dictionary, it has certainly contributed to the increased popularity of poems and also encouraged more people to write. In fact, many poets such as Rupi Kaur, Lang Leav, Ocean Vuong, Nikita Gill and many more started writing on social media before achieving success with their publications.
Rupi Kaur (@rupikaur_)
When it comes to poetry, we can’t move on without mentioning Rupi Kaur. Kaur started as an insta-poet and earned undeniable success when her first work, milk and honey, which was self-published in 2014, hit the 2016 New York Times best-seller list. Today, her first book has sold over 3 million copies and she has since released two more works titled the sun and her flowers and home body in 2017 and 2020 respectively.
Kaur's poetry is minimalistic in style, with many of her poems consisting of only a few lines. Her poems highlight themes such as love, loss, trauma and family along with her personal illustrations. She exposes some of the most vulnerable points in her life and how she grew through them. Hence, many readers were able to relate to her pieces and found solace in her writings.
Rupi Kaur did not only share her stories through her written works but also hosted a TedTalk in the form of a spoken word poem, where she shared her struggle of surviving and healing after sexual assault. Her narrative poem titled I’m Taking My Body Back has garnered 1.1 million views on YouTube and her words hit home for many people. In her poem, she says “It takes a long time to get here, but it all comes full circle. It takes a broken, twisted person to come searching for meaning between my legs, but it takes a whole, complete, perfectly designed person to survive it. “It takes monsters to steal souls and fighters to reclaim them.” It took many years for Kaur to heal from her trauma and to reclaim what was hers. She described the incident as someone “breaking into her home” and she was able to restore the feeling of home within her body through writing poems. If there’s a time when you feel ‘homesick’, do remember this: When monsters break into your home, we hope that you will be able to open the door within your heart one day, no matter how long it takes.
foam at the mouth with envy
when others succeed
but sigh in relief
when they are failing
when others succeed
but sigh in relief
when they are failing
our struggle to
celebrate each other is
what's proven most difficult
in being human”
celebrate each other is
what's proven most difficult
in being human”
― Rupi Kaur, milk and honey
Lang Leav (@langleav)
Though Lang Leav was known as a poet and novelist from New Zealand, she was actually born in a Thai refugee camp. She and her family had fled to Thailand to escape the Khmer Rouge, who terrorised Cambodia. They stayed there for 11 months before moving to Australia. Growing up, she found herself having an interest in literature and began dreaming to be a writer. However, it wasn't all fun and games for Lang Leav. She grew up in a migrant town centred on steady professions and experienced a lot of opposition on her career path. However, her parents were supportive of her dream.
Photograph by Trinity Wong
In 2012, she started sharing her poetry on Tumblr and her works garnered a big following. She self-published a prose and poetry collection called Love and Misadventures in 2013. Since then, Lang Leav has released more than 10 books with her latest one being released in 2021 — The Gift of Everything. Though Lang Leav has achieved her dream to be a writer, she also aims to make education more accessible to women in the future, saying, “What I’m passionate about is education, especially for women from low socioeconomic backgrounds like the one I came from. I feel that literature really saved my life and I want that to be accessible for women everywhere. I want all women to be educated and to have choices in life and become silver.”
Poetry Then and Now
Throughout the centuries, poetry has evolved and is now much different from how it used to be. While poetry in the olden days had to follow certain rules, modern poetry no longer does the same. Poets nowadays are more comfortable touching on topics that were deemed sensitive back in the day such as depression, mental health, self-love and coping with past sufferings.
Even so, there are some people who dislike the more straightforward nature of modern poetry compared to the transcendent beauty of traditional poetry. Some people might say that poets nowadays confine themselves to certain topics and only write to break certain norms from the past. However, it’s important to remember that the permanence of the internet keeps the stories of the marginalised alive. It does so in a way that we have never really seen before. This is why poets love to use online platforms to amplify such voices.
Centuries of styles, cultures, movements, and thoughts have changed. And the way we write poems has changed along with it. It doesn’t matter if your writing skills aren’t great— writing serves as a medium for you to express your emotion. So today, acknowledge your inner child and try putting pen to paper. You might be able to discover a new talent of yours!
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