the old cow's day old carcass lies stiff in the earth
bloated and rotting
the lions, the hyenas, the rats, the vultures, the ants and maggots
all get a share
the photographer and film maker got their share too
it was a fine and fitting kill
an agonizing and obviously painful death
choked by the lion's powerful jaws
one can even smell
the nauseating red flesh through the Television screen
nature's laws fulfilled once again
on prime time
a primal scene
recounted again and again
in a never ending series of stalks, and leaps
and failures and successes
the great cycle of life comes again to another completion
as a commercial comes on
and I go to make some pop corn
Old mother is now dead
She died naturally
Silently and slowly
Each takes its share
The Hawk sib, the Wolf sib, the Snake sib
and even other tribes
all carry off parts and pieces of her body
in separate directions of the compass
to make sacrifices and offerings
to feast and celebrate
there is so much of her to remove
else they would all have forgotten where they got it
and still so much more remains
that the carcass is left to rot and stagnate
and flies are allowed to fester on it
and then seeds will germinate and weeds will grow on it
and in its forgotten place,
perhaps a tall tree will grow.
Professional Pariah: Ethnography of the Anthropological Self
2001
Hugh M. Lewis
Blanket Copyright, Hugh M. Lewis, © 2005. Use of this text governed by fair use policy--permission to make copies of this text is granted for purposes of research and non-profit instruction only.
Last Updated: 03/17/05