Why Ruth B loves Rupi Kaur's poetry

Canadian singer-songwriter Ruth Berhe, better known as Ruth B, was launched to stardom when a six-second video she posted of herself singing an original song went viral. She's currently loving another social media sensation — milk & honey, a collection of poems by Canadian writer Rupi Kaur.

I came across the book because I was strolling through Instagram and someone had posted a picture of one of the poems. I was very intrigued. I was instantly hooked and I finished it in an hour. I love this book because poetry and songs are pretty similar. I find a lot of inspiration by reading these poems. For every poem that Rupi does, she has a little illustration, that's what I do when I write songs.

There was a poem in this book that really struck a chord with me. It says, "I am water — soft enough to offer life, tough enough to drown it away." And the illustration is what I really liked. It's a cup, like a normal glass of water, but the water inside it is a big wave. It looks like a huge tsunami. That's the best kind of imagery. The things that can save us in life are sometimes also the things that can end us.

Ruth B's comments have been edited and condensed.

Watch Ruth B perform Lost Boy: