Affray
Assignable sketches have a longershelf life than those without them.
Invisibility is a curse if you’re on dole.
Those with wherewithal outlive it.
There was comfort in the layers, masked
in a commorancy, I cached my secrets
in my skin. Soon, it began to please
the anvil chorus.
I was blind to the discerning eye,
so my darkness was busted.
I wish not to oversee
the liabilities of the layout.
Apparatus
of my carriage. Before I can follow
the chain of events, the rail is fixed.
Mobility is not everyone’s measure.
Some contain themselves, capitulate
to the cosmic.
There is no vagitus; there never will be.
The rub of rootlessness isn’t my map.
In the losses, Karma drums its dictate.
When on a roll, we celebrate the self.
Vestas in the vault: I am set to burn.
Please call the fire company.
Officialdom
to the fretboard of feelings:
I press the right notes.
It is not that you don’t care:
you do and not in a may you
always be happy, kind of way.
My issue:
In a competitive bid,
do you further my case?
Sanjeev Sethi has authored seven books of poetry. His latest is 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 edited Dreich Planet #1, an anthology of Indian poets for Hybriddreich, Scotland, in December 2022. He is the recipient of the Ethos Literary Award 2022. He is the joint winner of the Full Fat Collection Competition-Deux, organized by Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK. In 2023, he won the First Prize in a Poetry Competition by the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune, during its 75th anniversary in the “family members category.” He lives in Mumbai, India. X/ Twitter @sanjeevpoems3 || Instagram sanjeevsethipoems
Art: intangibledirection#3, a visual poem by Robert Frede Kenter. Twitter: @frede_kenter, Instagram: r.f.k.vispocityshuffle, icefloe22
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