The sea teeters on the brink of dusk,
yet a dozen boats in the distance
slowly fan out horizonward;
each sail still as a white moth
perched on a brown leaf,
wings clasped like hands in prayer.
The sun’s a glow away from drowning.
Still, these vessels persist in their journey,
pious along their drift towards
the dim purple horizon, unafraid
of night’s imminence.
The edge lies in wait, inevitable
as a crest of a waterfall.
BIO: Karlo Sevilla of Quezon City, Philippines is the author of the poetry collections “Metro Manila Mammal” (Soma Publishing, 2018) and “Outsourced! . . .” (Revolt Magazine, 2021). Shortlisted for the Oxford Brookes International Poetry Competition 2021, his poems appear in Philippines Graphic, Philippines Free Press, DIAGRAM, Matter, and recently in Empty Salon’s Summer 2022 anthology, “COMPULSION PETAL.”