A good man: An ode to the fasting fakir

By Athena Kashyap Athena Kashyap's first book of poetry, Crossing Black Waters, was a finalist in the Stephen F. Austin State University Press Award, and will be published by them simultaneously in the U.S. and India later this year. The holder of an MFA in poetry from San Francisco State University, she has published or has writing upcoming in Sanskriti, The Fourth River, Quiddity, Spork, Squaw Valley Review, the Waits-Mast Poetry Collection 2009 chapbook, Noe Valley Voice, Asia Writes among other journals.[caption id="attachment_70902" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Anna Hazare. PTI"][/caption]Old and frail, the painhe inflicts on his body,graphic as nails on a cross,make manifest evilthat no longer showsits face, morphedinto grandeur that flauntsover the weak and helpless,only to be pitied. Pulledtowards him, the fadinggood in us is suddenlygalvanized...a good manis dying for us, for whowe can be. Can we tossaside our dreamsfor flat-screen televisions,luxury cars? Value the goodthat outshines the shiningpower can buy? We yearnto spoon food intohis feeble mouth,but know he seeksa different nourishmentwe have to searchdeep within ourselvesto provide.