By Shalini Yadav
PROMPT—Privilege ...
A striking crack of dawn
At the parapet
Removing the murk within
One more day
Neat and beautiful
Brightening further
A different sort of stillness
In the garden
Soothing to my heart
Youth peeping outside
From tiny bud
Vitalizing the vibes
A softening music
Created by butterflies
Fueling a desire
To relish
These rare moments with you!
Dr Shalini Yadav holds a PhD in Post-colonial Literature and M. Phil in English Language Teaching (ELT) from University of Rajasthan, India. Additionally she has done a course in Advanced Creative Writing from University of Oxford, UK. She has progressive teaching experience of 16 years at University level in India, Libya and Saudi Arabia. She has participated and presented papers in many conferences and seminars, chaired sessions and delivered lectures across the tenure. She has edited and authored various books and is a freelance writer whose creative writing publications include three poetry books in English: Floating Haiku (2015), Kinship With You: A Collection of Poems (2014), Till the End of Her Subsistence: An Anthology of Poems (2013), and one in Hindi language entitled Kshitiz Ke Us Paar (2016). Many of her short stories and poems are published in numerous peer-reviewed journals and anthologies. She keeps reading her poems and short stories at various national and international poetry carnivals.