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Saaz Agarwal

It was no after-dinner video
though they played it for us
after dinner,
a viewing of my
father-in-law’s
digestive tract
short days before he died.

The probe
slowly traversed
the fleshy red gorges
of stomach and intestines
and we saw it
inject a lacerated ulcer,
saw blood pour out.

We watched,
assuming keen scientific curiosity.
That night,
my daughter awoke, screaming
and sobbed herself slowly back to sleep.

He had been a man
with implicit faith
in every system,
every nook and cranny,
every proliferating cell
of his body.

Implicit faith.
Misguided faith

And now,
at moments along the path of life
we pause
to wonder briefly
what untold secrets
our insides might contain.

This copy is posted as it was received. It has not been edited by TLM
Saaz lives in Pune.

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