Sanjeev Sethi


Vellum

There is a distinction between Fifty New Poets
and Fifty New Poets to us. It’s in the nuance.
Courtesy is a kink carried in lieu of craftiness.
 
A clement exchange harms none except those
with the brief to boost animosity. A few pack
an aliquot of anger generated in their genes.
 
A beach has ho-dads; that is how it hums. Some
strains never air: it’s a series of missed shots.
Cast aside your diffidence of being different.
 
As a yardbird of the cosmic, even if you yearn
for the next confinement, wear the caftan or kurta
of kindness. It will even out your anticipations.



Shield

Niksen decamps to another enclosure
as soon as adulthood enters.
Ideas concur or collide 
in the safeness of my think tank. 
The technique is perfect
what it sometimes lacks is fullness 
of the fruitage.

Animals and the universe 
possess their oracy: 
we must equip ourselves 
to attend to them.
Charientism is an invention 
in the warehouse of the wayward. 
Faith offers a passel of possibilities.



Leftovers

In the province of pleasure, haptic cues are in gear, 
disclosing more than any decree on the social charts. 
I trace my energy to meagreness. You are relentless 
in carving your reach: saints melt to touch; I’m me. 
As the intake picks up, the fun quotient, a.k.a. make
whoopie perks up. The following morning, excess 
issues a raft of regrets as it releases its report.



Nature

Sitting by the firth in the first part of my trance 
I await the next tranche. It rarely shows up. The
second one never sparkles in my exposure. Words
sprint their way to the waywardness of come-ons: 
your charm discredits me on myriad counts. The 
forty-year gap is the least of them. Why do I back
the wrong bent?

Sanjeev Sethi has authored seven books of poetry. His last two: Strokes of Solace (CLASSIX, an imprint of Hawakal, Delhi, July 2022) and Wrappings in Bespoke (The Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK, August 2022). He has been published in over thirty countries. His poems have found a home in more than 400 journals, anthologies, and online literary venues. He is the recipient of the Ethos Literary Award 2022. He is the joint-winner of Full Fat Collection Competition-Deux, organized by The Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK. He lives in Mumbai, India.

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