Thursday, April 25, 2024

Afterlife - April 24 2024

 

Afterlife

April 24 2024


They picked the carcass clean;

from fresh meat

down to bone

in less than half an hour.

No reverence

no service of remembrance,

but a wake of vultures

swarming a kill

with fierce efficiency.


And in flight, a kettle

circling high overhead,

peering down

with keen avian eyes

for their next expired meal.


But this group of vultures

have settled on the branches

of a stately tree;

a committee of birds

too gorged to fly,

soaking up the sun

wings spread wide.


They are not beautiful, by any means.

But then, the world was not intended

to please human beings,

our aesthetic sense

of how things should be.


Instead, these useful creatures serve.

Their wakes are not sad affairs

of condolences and tears;

they’re a celebration of life,

with drinks all around

and toasts to the departed.

Like Irishmen

who know how to party,

accept the fact of death

and believe in an afterlife,

giving a send-off

to one of their own.

A fight may break out

there will be songs,

the buffet

will be stripped clean.


But with vultures, unlike their counterparts

there is no Irish blarney

no gift of the gab;

no tributes

or pious speeches,

no inside jokes

or witty repartee.


It’s what they do

as eaters of carrion

that is their eulogy;

that in the cycle of life

the only chance of any hereafter

are the gleaners of death.


I was listening to a fascinating podcast (link below) about the devastating loss of vultures in India due to the toxic effects of common drugs. The story was told in the context of Zoroastrian funerary practices, but the loss of the ecological services of such an essential animal has widespread harms, not just in nature but in animal husbandry. So not only was I reminded of the importance of this often scorned creature, I also learned that there are 3 collective nouns for vultures, depending on what they do. As someone who takes delight in language, this proved irresistible!

https://99percentinvisible.org/

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