Karlo Sevilla writes from Quezon City, Philippines and is the author of two poetry collections: “Metro Manila Mammal” (Soma Publishing, 2018) and “You” (Origami Poems Project, 2017). He was a runner-up in Submittable’s 2018 National Poetry Month poetry contest and one of his poems is nominated by Ariel Chart for the 2018 Best of the Net Anthology. His poems have appeared in Philippines Graphic, Eclectica, Milk + Beans, The Broken Cassette, Scarlet Leaf Review, and others. He currently studies for the Sertipika sa Panitikan at Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Filipino (Certificate in Literature and Creative Writing in Filipino) program of the Center for Creative Writing of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines.
creation story
before the beginning,
it was decided
that it would be
a chiaroscuro.
and it was pure
entertainment
ever since.
alone in a forest, midnight
you cup your hands around an ember, to sustain it
and hope it rises again into the bonfire it was moments ago.
a cloudless sky, and the stars are out in full force. yet,
their collective light is wanting; they are too far away.
always too far away.
forest clearing at dawn
a sunray
breaks and multiplies
through the branches
a fairy
pirouettes
on the nose
of a fawn
a nymph
seated on a stone
strums the breeze
a dew drop
on a leaf
trembles
drips