Written by
Mir Elias

Mir Elias, née Mehrin Masud, is the pen name of Mehrin (“Mir”) Masud-Elias. Mir was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, came of age in the United States and found her voice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and their two dogs. Mir’s poems about her coming of age, the immigrant experience, love, loss and aging are often influenced by the Sufi poetic tradition, as well as Western myths, folk and fairy tales. Mir’s poetry has been published in Nothing But Red, a collection of artwork, poetry and short stories about violence against women, and in one of the recent online issues of Papercuts, the bi-annual literary magazine of Desi Writers' Lounge, an online workshop for writers of South Asian origin and writing on South Asia. Her first collection of poems is titled Glass Dreams. (Photo credit: Jamal J. Elias)

Quest

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No one ever told me
that the adventures
devoured as a child
would show up in life
some day.

No one ever told me
that the mind would stand in
for the sword,
the heart, the lost chalice
everyone is seeking,
the skin, the armor that
takes a beating every day,
the eyes, windows at the top
of the tower in which we’re imprisoned,
the soul, the writhing dragon
that requires confrontation
and submission;
that we are ones that cause the
distress that damsels suffer
only to be their savior
some day.

No one ever told me
that the wish to live larger than life,
to live a thousand and one nights in one
would be granted in the form of
one life
that unfolds anew,
a day at a time,
every day.

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• A BIANNUAL LITERARY MAGAZINE BROUGHT TO YOU BY DESI WRITERS' LOUNGE •

Volume 15

Fables and Folklore - Fall 2015

Verse

Quest