Some say the purest death
is to be ravaged alive
by beasts —
a final communion with creation
and instinct.
I could give myself to the lions
as red men gave their flesh
with joy to birds of prey, a feast
laid high on offering altars of pine,
their bodies rising
bite by bite to fill
the mouth and longing arms
of god.
And if I should die on African soil
at the pawing of tigers or men,
I pray the ants will piggyback my
sun-pressed crumbs across each undulation
of the ancient and bare breasted earth
and leave me soul to soil,
to nurse the hungry wild
and mingle with the stars.
© Pam Goode, 1995
Adapted 2024
Pam Goode Writes 
Very well said and exactly how I feel. I have long been an advocate for the Parsis tradition practiced in India where the body is consumed by vultures and birds of prey from upon the “Tower of Silence”. Personally, this disposal seems to best answer my desire conserve energy while also allowing me to make a “final” donation toward my lifelong recycling efforts. Haven’t constructed the tower yet, but we surely have a healthy population of vultures in the area, and they do a pretty quick and thorough job of cleaning the roadsides of dead wildlife, so I don’t see any reason that I shouldn’t be added to that menu! Ironically, I am presently doing my best to nurse my mother back from COVID and assorted other ailments, and she too, in her living will desires no heroic efforts to resuscitate or prolong her life should she get to that stage. I am hoping for the best, but one never knows and except for a brain sample that is to be collected for a cancer study she has been involved in for the past 30+ years, she will be cremated and scattered in her gardens which she created, worked, and prided herself on since she retired. Not as extreme as my plan I suppose, but back to nature none-the-less. Anyway, hope that you faired okay re: Hurricane Helene, be well – E
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