Specimen

By Mukund Gnanadesikan

In the beginning

I was raw

Uncut basalt

Free from destiny’s fairy wand

Or misdirected plans

Of palsied hands

That labor blindly.

Now polished, smooth

No crags remaining

I stand alone,

Cylinder shaped obelisk

Exhibited naked.

Whispers and opinions

Looks of confusion

Vibrate tight curls

And flowing locks.

Not fit for them

Nor yet for you

Immobile and exposed

Still I stand.

Mukund Gnanadesikan’s work has been published or is forthcoming in Adelaide Literary Magazine, The Ibis Head Review, Tuck Magazine, The Bangalore Review, Bloodroot Literary Magazine, Blood and Thunder: Musings on the Art of Medicine, Tanka Journal, Junto Magazine, Cathexis Northwest, Duck Lake Books, Literary Yard, Calliope and The Cape Rock. He is also awaiting the release of his first novel, Errors of Omission, due out in fall of 2020. When not perched behind his laptop, Mukund is a child and adolescent psychiatrist.