A Poem Which Will Seal The Path My Future Will Take Poem by Gayathri Seetharam

A Poem which will seal the path my future will take
-Gayathri B. Seetharam
I am at my wit's end as to how
To get PM Justin Trudeau
To stop cold shouldering me
And trying to hit upon the perfect plan
To make good on his promise to publish me on the PM's website
And pay me for all my publications
For I am a Canadian treasure with all my scientific/engineering, literary and artistic contributions,
I thought that I cannot get his attention
By saying he is "God's gift to women"
And by asking him to test my heartbeat
Which beneath my big, natural breasts,
Would race at his touch
But then again, I am not the sort who
Has a track record of having used my looks and figure
To get ahead with my career goals;

He is the PM of Canada
And hence the wrong man
To try to seduce with my thematic series
Of luncheons, tea and cocktail party
Ever so cleverly thought out
And published on Facebook
But I would so like to have him at my hostess table
Even if it is like taking eight 72-hour chemical reaction engineering take home exams
And ask him what his policy is
On the difference between a conservative liberal and a liberal liberal is
For I think he is a conservative liberal
And I am a liberal liberal
And am I too liberal for him, is my inner fear;

In a sombre mood this morning
I shall impart this piece of wisdom to my nieces and nephews and beloved son
And that is seduce and deduce and produce
And to my favourite niece, Aishwarya,
I say it is time to increase the count of the produce
And she can set aside her ambitions
In Chartered Accountancy and the Performance Arts and Music
Or pursue the feminist's dream
Of having it all including a loving husband's
Appreciation and awe at the art of it all;

Aishwarya made her formal debut into the world of South Indian classical dance in May 2002
When my son was a beautiful 3.5 year old boy
And I was the Master of Ceremony before an audience of 3000 people in Bangalore
And yes, my elder sister and her husband were generous enough to let me steal the limelight
And what a stunning performance Aishu had given;

As for myself, I was successful with earning power as I hope to be now
And with the sangfroid"ness" of the early thirties
My liberal liberalism had the free falling of the women's liberation movement
Without the tug of gravitational pull
And it might have been Einstein's Theory of Relativity
I felt the acceleration instead
And worked for 3 months in a corporate research environment
For Iogen Corporation in Ottawa while my husband was based in the Toronto home
After my 18 month research position in the chemical engineering department at U of Toronto
And the writing of my two technical papers during which time,
Before and after my Iogen Corporation job, I collected Employment Insurance;

I will say this to you without rancour, Justin Trudeau, as
A woman who is academically your superior
To drive, one must strive for greater success
And here you are, the Prime Minister of Canada
And here I am, awaiting for you to say the word
Which will lead me to greater success and with pay
And say that while watching you on Breakfast Television
Appealing to me as a Canadian, with your smiling solemnity,
I could not help thinking that Canada is headed for a wonderful 2019.
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Acknowledgements:
My slightly older friend, Veena. whose favourite phrase the said epithet was when describing a young, handsome man who had charmed her.