Trying to reconcile with the recondite
lines of your life results in asphyxiation.
You are oblivious of me, my bacha,
oblivious of my anxieties, our ado.
While we are numbed by this numinous play,
it is you who is sniggering in stealth.
Perhaps you know the truth about your travel.
We must accept you as you are.
That is the ukase of grace.
Acceptance is our arrival
to embrace corrective anthems.
That is our need. You’re complete
with your cackle, my child.
*For a friend’s little girl,
rare in her quiet way.
.
Sanjeev Sethi
Picture Nick Victor
.
Sanjeev Sethi has authored eight books of poetry. Legato Without a Lisp is his latest (CLASSIX, New Delhi, September 2024). His poetry has been published in over thirty-five countries and has appeared in more than 500 journals, anthologies, and online literary venues. He edited Dreich Planet # 1 India, an anthology for Hybriddreich, Scotland, in December 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 National Defence Academy, Pune. He was conferred the 2023 Setu Award for Excellence. He lives in Mumbai, India.
X @sanjeevpoems3 || Instagram sanjeevsethipoems ||