The mask hides your beauty: I imagine the curls on
lips, the hair on hormones. Hoops and their hardness
push me to sanitize the pallet as you clasp the secrets
I camouflage in the harem of feelings. Could you lend
me your steadiness?
The eagerness of esurience in palms as they pursue
the length and breadth of deprivation. In this beggary,
bliss prevails. Your cheeks tease with their tint. I feel
the need to nestle between the cracks of uncertainty
Please permit me to indulge your innocence.
Mores cripple my intentness for the tenderness of
thighs. The fear of a lapse holds me in its loathing
like flagellation at the frontier of an unwonted idea.
Let someone mark a manual to assist me in sailing
this cursed channel.
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Sanjeev Sethi
Picture Nick Victor
Sanjeev Sethi has authored eight books of poetry, his latest being Legato Without a Lisp (CLASSIX, an imprint of Hawakal, 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 lives in Mumbai, India.
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