“Empire”

By Sanjeev Sethi

(1)

My excitations impatient

for expression, in your

mussitations find meaning.

The peripheral always

gets me, yet I allow it

to attenuate me with

its sensations.

(2)

You unlock the gates

where your inmost gadflies

exhibit outcomes of

Dutch courage. In our

little parliament there

is no slot for Dorothy

Dixer. Words don’t bust

it for us: we do.

 Sanjeev Sethi is the author of three books of poetry. His most recent collection is This Summer and That Summer (Bloomsbury, 2015).  A Best of the Net nominee (2017 & 2018), his poems are in venues around the world: Poydras Review, Mojave He[art] Review, Miller’s Pond, Litbreak, Red Savina Review, Blognostics, Formercactus, The Five-Two, Ink Pantry, and otherwhere. He lives in Mumbai, India.