Empty shell is placed
On a sacred ledge
Exposed to the elements
Pungent odors rise
Scavengers will feast
Cold flesh soon to be devoured
Corpse will be reduced
To skeletal remains
Rapid disposal
Of a possible source of infection
Ancient ritual to sustain other’s lives
Generosity of the deceased…
Harsh lands leave no option
For interment or cremation
Traditional practice claiming
Man’s intrepidity
Pale limbs chopped up with an axe
Enabling creatures to swiftly consume
Loved ones are advised to leave this morbid scene
Skin, flesh, tendons, arms, feet, genitals,
Liver, heart, spleen and intestines…
Primitive deconstruction of the human anatomy
(repeat)
Ripping frenzy interrupted
Bones mashed into pulp for consumption
Skull split open to make brain accessible
Nothing is wasted….
Transference….
Of vitality….
Empty shell has vanished
From the sacred grounds
(A return to idyll)
Pungent odors gone
Scavengers are full
Skeletal remains
Reduced to nothing
Transference of vitality
An act of good karma