“To the Reader”

A Poem from Vijay Seshadri's Collection, That Was Now, This Is Then

January 11, 2022  By Vijay Seshadri
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I’m writing this so I can tell you that what you’re thinking
about me is exactly what I’m thinking
about you.

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What you’re reading is exactly what you’re writing,
by the light of a taper, deep inside yourself,
at your walnut secretary.

These words are saying
what those words say, and these and those

are those and these, mine and yours, and have no meaning,
only form. Talk about

being one with others!
We correspond 1 to 1, and there is a grandeur in this.
You’ll understand that someday.

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Just now, though, you’re stupefied at this
spooky action at a distance.

So would I be, and I am.

_______________________________________________________

“To the Reader” from That Was Now, This Is Then. Copyright © 2020 by Vijay Seshadri. Used with the permission of Graywolf Press, Minneapolis, Minnesota, www.graywolfpress.org.

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Vijay Seshadri
Vijay Seshadri
Vijay Seshadri was born in India in 1954 and moved to America as a small child. He is the author of four books of poetry, as well as many essays, reviews, and memoir fragments. His work has been widely published and anthologized and recognized with a number of honors, including the Pulitzer Prize.








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