After  
Husk by Margot Armbruster
What if I wake up a 
recovered patient
Ready for discharge?
In  orthodox
rooted family
I have oft heard a 
query by some
Affected, “ prayer 
and  fasting on 
Religious grounds – beyond limits-
are   they  necessary? 
No  viable 
answer except discipline and convention.
To propitiate  
Gods  and  the base for 
Ritualistic 
practices.
I have witnessed even children are
Tortured in the name of fasting, and 
rigorous discipline. Prayer  with 
closed  eyes
and  meditation, chanting 
and  fasting
for  hours- hunger suppressed.
Anorexia  giddiness. A 
prayer offered is 
Always there, a 
prayer  after  prayer,
Appeal to   Gods
for fulfillment of vows;
But prayer with starved stomachs and  
Delayed  eating  viscera and   weak
bones 
and  lose of  weight, even  loss of memory.
What  if  I wake up, a 
recovered  patient,
 Ready for
discharge?
What if I wake up with a  sturdy body, bright as
Sunlight and  straight?

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