“Duet 2: Something to Chew On…” by Jason Lee Miller and Beatrice Underwood-Sweet

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Someone once said to me:
.            I don’t think humans were intended to eat meat.
I smiled, tried to resist, but couldn’t:
.            These four fanglike teeth are called canines.
And watched the cognitive dissonance
Bite down hard enough to kill

Teeth have no thought for
feelings, for fur and rending flesh.
If you can’t take the knife
and separate skin from sinew,
your teeth don’t dictate
what you eat.

The same person said plants had feelings.
Don’t get me wrong—I can dig it
But don’t really want to
And don’t want to kid myself
About life depending on death
The oneness of it my only comfort

We could get religious about it
Life for life, like in the Old Testament,
A theft to keep breath and body, like Buddha said
Take in the body and blood of Mother Earth…
Myself, I like the way the American Indians
Give thanks to the spirits of the dead

Here’s the thing, though:
.            Bleeding hearts aren’t meant to survive this world.
But I suppose Nietzsche would say:
.            That’s hostile toward nature. Typical.
From no great height do I stab downward
Knowing Twain was right, too, when he said:
The ascent of man is backwards.

-Jason Lee Miller
and
Beatrice Underwood-Sweet

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