Watch this video on Instagram as well.
“If I Could Exist in Any Place” is an original poem reminiscing about the most blissful memories one has in life. It is an ode to the ‘good times’, however fleeting, peppered with sentiments of deep gratitude and content for having experienced them at all. It is about the celebration of the good and the bad, sunrises and sunsets, the struggles and triumphs. The celebration of EXISTING.
Vibrant, tropical hues and sunset palettes have always been predominant in my work, serving as not only inspiration drawn from my Filipino heritage, but as a way to depict what comes to mind when someone tells me to remember the sweetest moments in my life. My mother and late grandmother’s favourite thing to tell me is to be grateful for the good days. So you can say these hues echo the warmth that fills my chest when I think of these happy moments - from the freeing feeling that comes with belly laughter, the lack of inhibition in childhood, the rollercoaster of adolescence, the travels and endless nights in adulthood. The continuous line art representing the ties and connections forged throughout those moments. All in the shape of an arch window, as if you are looking through - which is generally what it feels like when you recall a fond memory. These, all in the backdrop of a sunset.
“If I could exist in any place”
If I could exist in any place, it would be at the end of my longing.
It would be at the edge of dusk, at the tip of the scissorhands
where I snipped away the last of my burdens
and toasted to the beginning of sewing these loose threads
these unfinished patches
into a warm togetherness.
Like that feeling I felt:
bold and brash
yet altogether, peaceful, still
light radiating at every extremity
singing the night away
underneath Pacific stars
between grazing palms
a sky caught on fire.
Like the way we danced in circles
tongues soaked in song, in laughter
full and hazy and heavy-lidded,
utterly consumed by
Blood and Water -
The celebration of existing
in a place like this.
What are “Letters”?
Here, we are all about creative storytelling. So what better way to tell a story than marrying two passions: illustration and poetry?
Throughout my time working and collaborating with so many of you through INKSCRPT, I have had the privilege to have folks share the most beautiful, intimate stories and moments with me. It's something I never take for granted because I know how difficult and at times, scary, it can be to express yourself.
Poetry is an incredibly personal and intimate form of art. Since I was 12, I've used poetry as a form of therapy, escapism, artistic expression, and articulation of my own thoughts, experiences, feelings, observations, philosophies.
"Letters" is my way of reciprocating and sharing my own vulnerability. With "Letters", every now and then I will share with you poems from my personal archives. It may be in spoken word format, text only, or both. Sometimes there will be a story or explanation that serves as context for the poem. Other times, I'll leave it up to you for interpretation.
Whether you stumbled upon here by chance or came here deliberately through scanning the QR code on your free art print from your order (go to my Instagram to see what I’m talking about), I hope this poem resonates with you in some way or form, and that it brings a content feeling of warmth in you.
Thank you for your connection, your company, and for always sharing your stories and moments with me. What a privilege; what a life!