Tender Inflictions

Published in 2023 by Aspiring Pens, Tender Inflictions is an anthology of poetry and prose from eleven selected writers, most of them young adults writing from Pakistan. The collection moves through grief, heartbreak, anxiety, love, self-doubt, and the quiet weight of societal pressure. Some writers offer raw, unpolished emotion. Others bring craft and control to their lines. The prose pieces read as open letters to the self and to others, asking readers to slow down and pay attention. The poems range from tender love verses to sharper, darker pieces about mental health and loss. Across all eleven chapters, a single thread holds: pain that does not ask permission before arriving. The title captures this well. These are not violent wounds. They are the kind that come from being human, from caring too much, from trying to hold on to things that leave. The book does not offer answers. It offers company.