“jebba-north” © OsyMizpah Unuevho
Phoenix Sighting
by Iris Orpi
Then she walked into the fire— clothed in the threads that karma uses to bind what we suffer with what we inspire, her silence worth its weight in gold and her words, when she picks them, have enough force in their utterance to ransom
the future from the past.
They threw their chaos at her, envy green and
tapered at the ends
but she didn’t burn, even the curses laced with gunpowder wouldn’t borrow from the air she was breathing
to get a spark started
nor lay hands on her
nor soot up the inkwell
clarity of her eyes
destruction hung from dry mouths of ill will, unspoken cowardly and anonymous angst too impure to matter next to her carbon-kissed skin,
mother of diamonds
the elements that sustain the blaze recognized the deep blue of her soul as one of their own, a genuine piece of the source and knew there was
no ending her
only closing the cycle:
clear the path, watch the ashes,
behold the wings.
poem: Iris Orpi is a Filipina writer living in Chicago, IL. She is the author of The Espresso Effect (2010) and Cognac for the Soul (2012). She was an Honorable Mention for the annual Contemporary American Poetry Prize in 2014. Her work has appeared in over two dozen publications around Asia, North America, Europe, and Africa.
photograph: OsyMizpah Unuevho (ig: @the_mizpah) writes and collects poetry and rock samples from everywhere. Member of the Hill-top Arts Foundation, he is a road photography, mental paintings enthusiast and lover of rock, indie, experimental folk, shoegazing et cetera feminine bands and he loves the deep in everything.