Sanjeev Sethi


Dissimulations

Never have comebacks weaponized concepts 
as sharply as recent conversations with self. 
We cozen ourselves better than all the con 
artists on the mean streets of urban sprawls. 
Indentations on maple leaves of malefactions
emphasize their impact on the itinerary. One 
is plugged in and perceptive enough to keep 
away from the scree of flagitious intent: short-
lived slip-ups are constituents of the construct. 
As yurt of prolificacy anchors itself in the desert
of reason, cloudbursts elect to desert me.



Personalia

I negate the truths they tell me 
about myself, 
a trick I learned early in
game of one-upmanship. 
Whigmaleeries twist on
the dance floor of inclinations, 
I plié myself out of them, 
an exercise practitioners 
of the deadpan imbibe.
The closeness of tanzanite beads 
crumble at the shrine of surmises.



Carriage
 
Trust keys its first letter
on my lips
as breath marinates with breath,
to overlook what earlier orders
pitch as a keepsake.
 
In the urgencies
a brand-new
anthem takes off.
This, too, will own a fleeting flavour:
as its leavings accrue to the inventory.



Hem

Scorching eyes piercing 
into me as if 
constructing a shelter 
for the unsettled.
I am quick to imagine 
the kind of roof it will be.

When not used to walls 
they are wrackful, 
throttling speedsters 
as it were. Unhoused 
horses have their curvet. 
Dressage is a drudge.



Deduction

Littleness is a supercilious lilt:
let it slide.

Your saining too filters in. 
In your firmness 
I seek solace from you.

Walking away from self
isn’t as easy.

Allocating it to the Almighty,
and drawing a blank on our burden 
is one way of styling the system.

The other is to offer answerability
for the environment.

Sanjeev Sethi has authored five books of poetry. He is published in over thirty countries. His poems have found a home in more than 375 journals, anthologies, and online literary venues. Recent credits: Stand Magazine, Outlook Magazine, The Lake, North Dakota Quarterly, K’in Literary Journal, and Summer Anywhere (Hybriddreich). He lives in Mumbai, India. Find him: Twitter @sanjeevpoems3 Instagram sanjeevsethipoems

 
 

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