Iris Orpi Poetry giveaway by Kumiko Mae

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Like this post if you love poems.

Hello Sunshine! I believe that there is magic in this world—not the sparkly circus type; but rather, the arresting quiet touch that relaxes into a mystery and lapses down until you sleep and wake up again. When it comes to imagining (and perhaps, reimagining) beauty, I like to believe that part of accepting it is having faith in the mystical things. The feelings that crashes down with a big gulp; or those thoughts that circles around a timeless fire.

Today, I want to share with you that magic through poetry. Continue reading because I will be giving away poetry books by Iris Orpi by the end of this post.

Before all else, the context. I “met” Iris through Ms. Sunshine Plata, who is her friend and is a coffee painter that I met back in college, through a journalism feature writing class. Come to think of it, it’s very interesting how our paths crossed, completely candid, yet perfect. Iris is a kindred soul who expresses a lot of her passion (kept and unswept) through her writing. To further give you an idea, I will indulge you with two poems from two of her books which I will be giving away on this blog.

The Things that have No Place

I wonder who was the first
to come up with the idea
of a place
where everything
everyone’s ever lost
ends up in?
Somehow, that always
appealed to my imagination
I found it comforting
to believe in such a place
than to swallow
that something could just
simply stop existing.
I’d rather trust that
something I can no longer see
is still somewhere material.

In the same light,
I want to believe
that there shall always be
a middle ground
in our hearts
for the things
we almost had,
you know the things
we had but kind of didn’t,
or didn’t have but sort of did,
they have a place
in some mezzanine
we sometimes pause at
in the grand staircase leading to
the ballroom of our hearts
like the fourteen-tier
crystal chandelier
nobody really pays attention to
when they pass
but is beautiful,
beautiful nonetheless.

I almost loved you
you almost loved me
we were almost together
we were almost happy
and nothing else
almost didn’t matter
because we almost
had each other
it was almost as good as
anything else we’ve had
but it was too good
to be true
so it wasn’t
true,
even if it was good

and outside
that make-believe place
that makes sense
only to the hopeful heart,
there is the hard, hard world
where you lose things
when you’re not careful
and nobody cares, really
where they go.

Ugh, I still feel the ache I first felt when I read that poem. It’s so sad and piercing, it reminds me of that feeling when you peel of a scab, with so much bluntness, you feel more alive than hurt. Sometimes, when things change too fast, you kinda wonder, where do things go? Often, the answer will come late (or not at all), but when they do, sometimes the answers doesn’t really change the setting (or the feeling of loneliness), not even a bit.

Now if you liked that poem, you’d love this. Among the Iris Orpi poems I read, this one hit me with a knightly arm, I had no chance of living without the blow.

Shooting Star

Shapeshifter
my love, or my need of it,
came tapping its fingers
on my windowpane
in the form of raindrops.
They made contact
with the tempered glass
like the pebbles Romeo
threw into Juliet’s balcony,
entering the softly lit
sanctuary of my privacy
intent on uniting with it
as the incongruous element
that makes any
state of restlessness
more entitled to exist.

I’ve been lying in wait
for somebody to
scale that wall.
Like Sleeping Beauty
your kiss, or my memory of it,
brought me to the surface
of the dead still lake
I’ve been sinking in
with only my
gagged nightmares
floundering and flailing.
We talked about second chances.
We both had opinions about it.
And I covered with my hand
the beating heart of your
loneliness,
or the cost of it,
and asked you how much time
you still had before your fear
overran everything, including
your capacity to believe
that you are worthy
of the loving you’ve been
saving for the next one.
And I told you maybe
there’s still enough time
for one try and you
might like to spend
faith’s crunch time
on me.

And I told you I was scared too
that the best version of me
might have already passed and
I would have to
love the next one
with what’s left.
And you took my nakedness,
or my fear of it,
and covered it
with your own

and held me.
And the night passed that way:
with our pasts
held at bay
outside of our touch.
I told you
I want to love you
and a hush
descended in
the improving darkness,
such that we haven’t
heard in a long time.

To me, Iris Orpi’s poems are an invitation to feel—deeper and more real by the minute. Her words are seduction, lacing the masked hesitations towards the numbing feeling of overwhelming emotions such as love, anguish, happiness, and hurt. And I want you, my dear readers to experience her world of words.
My lovely friend Iris will be sponsoring this giveaway, and I invite you to win her books so you could possibly learn more about the depth of your soul through poetry—like how I did, after her words revealed more shades of truth to me.

In celebration of reaching my 4k followers mark of Facebook, there will be FOUR lucky winners for this giveaway. Two winner will win a book each, and the other two will win both! Please join and enjoy the lovely works of Iris Orpi with me.

To join, JOIN MY PRIVATE BOOK CLUB then simply use the Rafflecopter widget below. This giveaway is open to Philippine residents only.
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Don't forget to also follow my poetry blog!

LovingSunshine is a beauty blog and loving life. Kumiko Mae is your friendly Filipina beauty blogger aka sunflower guru!
New stories are published every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, 11:30 AM, Philippine Time! Hope you enjoyed your visit, don't forget to comment and connect with me through my various social pages as linked below. How about a dose of daily poetry? Visit my poetry blog on www.kumikomae.com!