Shrine custodian*

by B. R. GOWANI

a person hovers around a saint’s shrine
someone inquires about the saint
he says: the grave in the shrine is empty;
there is no saint in the grave
it’s a hoax to lure gullible people

in response, he was beaten mercilessly
his cognitive faculty was severely damaged
he used to be able to do a little work to survive
now his state of mind rendered him incapable of any job

many years later…

people managing the shrine felt pity for him
they assigned him some work
he would run errands for them

he would listen to stories about the saint
and the miracles he performed to heal people

he himself never thought about getting healed
or to get his normal thinking process back
because it never occurred to him that his brain was damaged

still later…

they made him the custodian of the shrine
he would tell people stories about the saint
his miracles, his healing power, and his greatness

B. R. Gowani can be reached at brgowani@hotmail.com

*(Based on a dream I had in October 2018.)

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