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"I Loved You Differently But I Loved You the Most" and "My Buyer’s Hesitation..." by Karlo Sevilla

I Loved You Differently but I Loved You the Most


Remember that summer workshop when I alone

defended the whole of your second draft?

My zeal even made you, its creator,

wide-eyed and frozen in your seat.

You knew I was the quiet one among our peers

and always abided by the path of least resistance.


But my gut feeling said that you were going for the music

of the alliterations since you’ve long shied away

from the antique charm of end rhymes.

(Note: By “antique,” I mean, “immemorial and immortal” --

and why not write in that scheme again?)

You knew that one word less and the poem

would be off-key and could no longer sing.


For you, my impassioned feedback:


“Let us not go for concise

until it is no longer nice.”


(If ours was a barbershop,

every customer would be leaving

as a skinhead!)


Remember that summer?


Anyway, you don’t have to.


By the way, I still . . .


Never mind.




My Buyer’s Hesitation over Gifting You a Bike


After three attempts at taking your own life,

with the last one almost final,

you asked me to buy you a bike.


A bike! I could only imagine

the happiness it would give you!


To ride around the park in lieu

of walking around the ward!


Yes! A bike! But . . . how fast

can any driver of a speeding car react

in case you attempt

to test the strength

of your two-wheeled vehicle

against his four-wheeled metal?


A bike. Yes, I know the joy

of riding one.


I can already see

the unbearable beauty

of you gliding by;

your bronze hair billowing

to the passing breeze,

your smile ethereal

as the afternoon sun.


But . . .




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 and thrice nominated for the Best of the Net, his poems appear in Philippines Graphic, DIAGRAM, Small Orange, Radius, Matter, Eclectica, Better Than Starbucks, and elsewhere.


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