Meditations on the seventeenth floor

in times of distress       I prefer mouse to keyboard     
clicking restoring       faith in emergent action       like opening
the window on a muggy day      to meet the last breeze
of the swelling afternoon       how do I explain my daily nervousness     
contrapuntal to my coy nonchalance       this song I only hear
in fading chorus      holding my ear to the door’s screen      I almost
wish I had no options       hours I spend daily       tapping icons
on my phone       uploading a picture often seems the easiest way
to escape consequence       thoughts of prayer cross my mind     
riding elevators and escalators      last I checked I saw
dogs fucking vigorously at the roadside stall I drink my evening tea      
their coiled limbs leap at me      in rebellious dreams       like the multi-
petalled face of someone       who shall never love you enough     
there are hairs on my ear I wish I hadn’t noticed       things I never
linked have found a way to  decay together      like distant
twigs in a gentle creek      it’s ok to be zapped       from the birth
of new phenomena       but critical to know what’s at stake       
the conscious sipping       air for caution       rapture for fibrillation       
my heart a Saturday bazaar       on Sunday offers heavy discounts

Satya Dash's poems have been published or are forthcoming in Passages North, Cosmonauts Avenue, The Florida Review, Pidgeonholes, Glass Poetry, Prelude amongst others. Apart from having a degree in electronics from BITS Pilani-Goa, he has been a cricket commentator too. His work has been twice nominated for the Orison Anthology. He spent his early years in Odisha, India and now lives in Bangalore. He tweets at: @satya043