The Knight’s Legend
Seventy years of his life spawns a
flashback in the background
as he sips a cup of coffee in the verandah.
His grandsons request him
to narrate a fairytale;
with a giggle on his face and resilience
in his heart
he tells his grandsons that life is not a fairytale.
So, he narrates them the tale of a knight
whose sword was his pen,
atween every battle and victory
lied his spirit of perseverance
his first counter with miseries was at twenty,
when life wrecked havoc
on his mellow youth;
unable to find a comrade in the battlefield
he took out his pen
and waved like a sword in the field
he used to fall atleast ten times before conquering
a fort in the battle and his wounds
were his greatest witness.
Years later;
from The Paris Review to The New Yorker,
from The Washington Times to The Sydney Morning Herald
all heaped praises on his tale…
perhaps, it was only he himself who knew
how many drops of blood he lost
before it became a sea of legend for him.
Ali Ashhar is a poet, short story writer and columnist from Jaunpur, India. He is the author of the poetry collection, Mirror of Emotions. Following the release of his book, he was chosen as the Best Debut Author for the year 2021 by The Indian Awaz and was the recipient of a India Prime 100 Authors Award. His works appear in Indian Review, The Raven Review and The Bosphorus Review of Books, among others.
