Asian Literary Society

The sharp wintry night falls, The mist covers the leaves, lanes, and lights The trees stand helpless awaiting for spring. In the silence, echoes every sound near or far. The stars play hide and seek With the clouds. The erstwhile lovers gaze each other In the darkness To reveal a thousand secrets As if to entwine each other in a warm embrace. Her sick body peeps out through curtains, The soul roams out in search of warmth Perchance inside its more cold. It sits with the men at the bonfire At times with the couple in the shack But the unrest is never calmed. The sharp wintry night falls.

Clear eyes, To see beyond the deepest edges of the sea. A sharp tongue, To utter the letters of life. Solomon's wisdom, To regret less of life. Create in me a new heart, Bigger to accommodate more than love. A visionary mind, To walk before the intentions. Lengthen the hay days, With moons upon countless seasons, More of summer and winters. I desire to count the stars with broader smiles, Upon the scars of memories, The thirst for life, Desire to live.

The dissipating silent night, enraptured my senses.. Under the dim lantern lights and dangling sweet bougainvillea dreams, I lay subdued.. The chilly winds whispering in the frozen ears.. The cascading half-baked desires burning in the backyard.. The chit-chats along the desolate fire.. Where passion reached a new level, manifesting inadvertently.. The iconic sensuous touch, casting of your harsh, unforgiving look.. I was your epicenter, the flights of imagination that we took.. I was racked up with your insurgent thoughts.. That drifted me afloat, the rippling water of desires, my mind was overwrought.. With wrinkled face in the winter of our life.. Let's dissolve the barriers, weed out the difference and petty strife.. Let's espouse the liberal values of love again.. Let's rekindle the simmering emotions again.. Let's refract our relationship rays via the prism of love again.. Let's elevate our vision and subme...

After sundown the Antarctic storms retreated; Their icy mission accomplished. The last, lost snowflakes descended, Joining all that had fallen before, Softly blanketing the earth. Trees proudly displayed their white attire. Shrubs and plants sighed under the weight. Birds snuggled in their nests. Rabbits and hares remained in their lairs. Even an old owl stayed in hiding. From behind woolly clouds The bleak full moon appeared briefly, Showering the earth with its soft rays, Transforming my garden into A sparkling winter wonderland … I stepped outside. Silence was all I could hear …  

It was dead winter night of the desert; Mercury had gone down freezing everything  Including the life whatever it is there; The stunning shrubs and thorny bushes Seemed to shrunk for surviving; Scorpions and snakes went back into sand; Knowing what was about to come soon; Sensing why to become the eye witness. Something must be flourished in isolation, At about half-past three, two dots appeared  Together with incomparable illumination; The first one was the moon in the horizon And the second one was the pretty maiden. Both had an unseen contest for beauty. If the first had frolic movements in the sky; The latter had divine features of pulchritude. An owl was to determine who was the best But here, partiality selected the first guest As the owl showed his softness to the moon. Humiliated maiden plunged into a sand dune.

I’m not ashamed of all the scars Left on my soul by people unnamed I wear every mark with pride today They spell victory over a torturous day. I hold my head high, all over again, I’m not ashamed of the time when, My mind was caught in a chasm of emotion And all I could do is flee from the commotion. I’m not ashamed to bear the pain Inflicted by life’s ordeals, For my spirit is undaunted And resonates with prayers I chanted… For numerous times, I fell on my knees, Unable to hold up my mast, I’m not ashamed to admit I failed My heart sank, but my life sailed… I rose from ashes, every time I was charred I’m not ashamed to tell you I was marred,   I held on to my dignity with a fierce will, I never lost the vigour to climb up the hill.

The last push I gave to the splash of swimming  shores magic built upon the butt of my oars drops squirted upon my deep dreams  as if winter's night  has lit a fire in white snow  I got up in whims…. screeching sound from distant afar The silhouette beneath the neon lights I saw the watchman moving to and fro dragging stick on the cobblestone path of the alley ..mingled in the soil of mist I saw it at once… stagnant water in moving waves……. stagnant meteors in orbit of moving planets… and I saw stagnant soul among moving sleep mist seemed to soothe  my soul and I slipped in the blanket for sleep thanks...sundowning came to my rescue !!!

The night is shrouded In plumes of mist That float around hiding shame. Warm hearths Lie oblivious of the shriveled figures That sit crouched around A wayside fire, Choking its way To live through the night. The shame of letting walls grow Between the insiders and the outsiders - The mist covers it all. And so the night seems To be at peace, - A brittle peace though. There is hunger raging Within those half-naked figures. Perhaps the chilly night With its diabolic fangs Will suck their breath out.

Vibrant fire, an immortal symbol of life that infuses hope  And thaws the coldness that sojourns in the restive soul  The deliberate fire exemplifies inevitable death rituals When funeral pyres are kindled to bid adieu to the departed Fire represents illumination as it burns in eternal flame Consuming impurities and dazzling the numbing darkness It holds symbolism in prayers, as candles are lit in a church Or they burn in memorium and in prayers for the deceased A conflagrant fire, destroyer that devours the unrighteous hungrily And the raging fire symbolizes God’s indignant wrath A spirited fire rekindles quiescent passion and desires As the flames flicker and dance as if in eternal love A tempestuous fire oft burns within, of vengeance and anger Like burning inferno, engulfing everything in its path mercilessly  The fire flashes into existence in red, yellow and orange autumnal hues  And glowing embers twirl in a fiery dance  Ete...

The splash of rain across her innocent face always raised her spirits She jumped in muddy puddles and didn’t seem to care For the onlookers who may be forming an opinion Her childlike heart, she was ready to bare The silvery raindrops trickled down her arched brows Onto her trembling lips that broke into a radiant smile The false commitments and broken promises all forgotten The worries at the back of her mind could wait a while Her languid eyes sparkled amidst the droplets Her heart seemed to dance and play a melodious tune As she gathered the gift of nature in both her palms She felt she had managed to break through the caged cocoon She was captive no more to the opinions of the world And decided to live life abundantly on her own terms She left behind all the traumatic memories A fire to revolt within her forever burned She found peace in the tranquility of nature The serenity of the showers gave her quietude She needed no one to make her complete And she lived with pride and an im...

In Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, rotates on its axis, the eternal Blue Beauty! Creating the infinite days and night, revolving to seasons in the deadliest plight !! Selflessly consenting life to respire, for ones who destruct and those who aspire, to dig through the trench to her deepest core, to placate the ravenousness of gliding soar! Charred in Sun and enlightened in Moon, allowed the legacy to be harvested by goons! Weary of fighting an endless brawl protected her being by baring it all From sombre pleadings to roars aloud, beneath Mariana and beyond the clouds! Save the blue, and save the greens, save those yellows and browns serene Or you will only be left in hand, a lifeless, scorched, barren land! With only the sorrows and sheer dearth, Wake up now, “Save the Earth”

Like complete strangers, we met today, just by chance We were too chastened to even steal a glance  As we sat in eerie silence for hours that never seemed to end Each other's unspoken words we could still comprehend  We may have drifted apart in directions unknown The distances between us may have intermittently grown Cherished feelings reversed with the passage of time  Your insatiable desires may have ebbed alas! so did mine  Yet this did not take away all that we in the past shared We have worried for each other and we deeply cared It was sheer inevitability or God’s will perhaps  That creeped between us some unbridgeable gaps Today, I’m fighting life’s copious battles and so are you My heart whispers,"Can't you hold my hand and see me through?" Afraid and dubious to speak these quivering words aloud  But wishing silently to fulfill what we had to each other vowed  Our inescapable destiny may have set us miles apart But every m...

Where is the fairy, show me one, They fly no more under the polluted painful sun!  Call them back with their magic spells when not again, a girl screams, from down below a dark well!  Let fairies be real not just a tale to tell let them appear when they hear the death knell.  When women are torn apart and girls charred, Be there! for women in  despair...  Walk not in fancy gowns, when humans need an urgent repair.  Fairy O Fairy! O fairy my love, Bestow sanity on human, the ability to love.  Bring upon us the wave of gratitude,  Re coop us from the panacea of social evils.  Release the stigma from the hurt, make us humans, once again from the start!  We wait for your arrival on that magic cart, Let there be no perpetrators  and victims, A true fairy tale ender ' for they lived happily ever after!'

Ochre tinge of withered leaves when smears with sand and dust. Softest rustle of endless music perish with wintry gust. Winter arrives by beating the drum, while Autumn smiles an adieu. My heart seems to drift apart, always remembering you. Morosed sunshine welcomes back, the memories that were lost. Gently kisses the lonely lass and leaves her all engrossed. Silent tears mingle slowly, along with drops of dew. Pensive murmur of withered leaves, touch by remembering you. Days when roll to speechless nights, solitude swamps with tides. Sonorous lullaby of the crickets, tries to act as guides. Guides to act for pleasing memoirs dipped in radiant hue. Left behind, but way to find, thoroughly remembering you. Nights when providing with every pleasure to lull with all it's past. Is it pleasure or hordes of pain? That holds with tears and lust? Your vibrant presence even in the absence is eternal and not just new. Love you ever, my treasured beau, s...

Little Priya closed her fairy tales book and lay down.  It was late in the night, but sleep eluded her.  Neha would be coming home tomorrow, for good. They had been friends till sometime back, in fact, she had liked Neha the very first-time daddy introduced her. But of late, her mind was clogged with doubts. After all, books were her best friends and they never lied. Would her life be messed up forever, now with Neha's arrival? Back from school next afternoon, Priya found Neha waiting. Smiling with pure joy, she rushed to embrace Priya, only to be pushed away harshly. “You’re evil,” Priya screamed. “You’ll treat me bad, turn me into your maid, make me do all kinds of chores. Your children will be worse, they'll bully me. I hate you.” Her daddy rose to reprimand her, but Neha motioned him to stop. "We are friends, you know that Priya. What happened suddenly?" Neha enquired softly.  “Snow White, Cinderella, Rapunzel, they all have stepmothers and st...

Wading through frozen water, I look for you above the sunken Titanic while a hoarfrosted timeless pen follows the blind chords of Elvis Presley creating broken hearts from colorful clouds. Origami butterflies scatter the heart sparks through riddles crisscrossed by the puzzles of fate as the fisherman pulls the net out of the vortex of life, and love letters sink into the mystical river Lethe. On the waves, a forest fairy swings   forgotten words of a melodious tone while from the sea salt pedestal I build a castle of verses by memory. I hastily look for faded photos swung by the pendulum of unforgetfulness through the cobweb while the raftsman bridges the seasons in the flickering pupils of a blazing constellation. Running past a blossoming lavender bed an express train carries away the unwritten desires where the modus operandi of bygone times precipitates through the eighteenth detachment into the abyss.

Once when I trotted up to you frantically Alas, our maiden meet ended up in craving I felt inwardly a flurry of emotional thrills Since then the days passed by in longing I was exonerated from the eerie emotional exile A glad tiding then there when you came into my life With embers of love I reigned forever in silent solitude I raced against the turbulent times amid a surfeit of strifes I could foresee best of the times in the worst of situations An idyllic surge was ever winking to surge like a soaring tide I crafted the mansion of love in the deep cove of my throbbing heart Though a slim chance of success stood as a stumbling stride Smitten by severe sighs, I was imbued with romantic brooding I envisioned a verdant spring in deserts of vapid times I whirred and swirled in the sanctuary of hope like fireflies Remembering you solely kept me moving in all possible rhymes With much guts and gutsy I zeroed in an untoward oddity The tirades of time intimidated me like tall, spi...

जब तक कि मैं ! हे काल ! तेरे चक्र की  महिमा का मंडन करता  फिसल गया ! तत्क्षण ही वह क्षण --- जिस 'क्षण' में  'उस क्षण ' था मैं ! अभिमन्यु ! भी हुआ पराजित ! चक्रव्यूह से अपरिचित था ! कालचक्र  ने करवट बदली ! भीलों ने अर्जुन को लूटा ! गाण्डीव और आग्नेय हुए अंततोगत्वा निष्प्राण! जरा बहेलिया ने हर लिए  श्रीकृष्ण के प्राण! " मनुष न होत ,समय होत बलबान । भीलन लूटीं गोपिका, बेई अर्जुन बेई बाण।।" कौन यहाँ है ? जो कालचक्र को समझ सका! देखो ! हारे भगवान ! और सब इंसान! हे चिर् काल ! परम सत्य ! सदा तेरा अस्तित्व! कल था !आज है और कल भी तू होगा! हे ! "होने की अनूभूति !" सदा रहेगी तेरी विभूति! शरणागत मैं ! नतमस्तक हूँ! कालचक्र से बंधा हुआ हूँ ।

I am not ashamed to drape a “hijab” or a “burqa” Though it masks and protects my dignity, I am not a coward  Please do not stereotype me as submissive or weak  If I choose to wear it, I am not oppressed but empowered  I am not ashamed to belong to the LGBT community  Don’t label me as queer or ever doubt my devotion  Don’t silence my voice but embrace me as I blossom So what if I am a shade different from you but have similar emotions  I am not ashamed to step out of home in a short dress But how do I avoid being a victim of the patriarchal society  Stop judging me by the length of my casual attire Call me a feminist if you may, as I give importance to my vanity  I am not ashamed to be unable to converse in English  I stand strong irrespective, breaking the barrier of language  By safeguarding the purity and pride of my freedom As my mother tongue and culture I proudly patronage  I a...

Meera was again amidst the hills, her favorite destination, which brought her the “Calm”. She came every year to this small town in the lap of beautiful snowy hills whenever she felt inspired to write again. She knew this was the place of stories. She wrote her first story here, then another one, and then another one. There was a strong bond that Meera shared with this place. She took her notebook and walked towards the lake, her chosen spot to be with herself. She sat under the tree as she soaked in the sultry breeze. Love bloomed between a couple, who sat holding hands under a tree. The leaves danced on the tunes of the air as the branches swayed. It was tedious for Meera to spend the evenings by the lakeside. She had created a few characters in her story, but something was missing. She couldn’t figure out what it was. She kept going and coming to the lake, and a few days went by, but she couldn’t seam through the missing weaves. All of a sudden one day, an idea struck h...