An abridged version of Elegy for the Eaten was first published in the Fall 2020 issue of Dialogue: a Journal of Mormon Thought. In honor of Thanksgiving, it is republished here in it’s full form. Elegy for the Eaten is a grateful prayer for those nonhuman persons that sustain our lives by their deaths.
I.
To the Ones who
Awakened the Universe with a word
And set the Cosmos afire.
To the Ones who
Sing to the Music of the Spheres
And dance with Life and Death.
God-Mom and God-Dad—
Having stretched forth our hands,
We have plucked from the Tree of Life.
For our mortal lives to be sustained,
creaturely blood must be spilled.
Through animal, plant, and fungus—we live.
This is the Way.
Death is the engine of Life.
May you speedily welcome these Creatures
To that great Farm in the Sky.
Sunlit pasture for cows.
Endless forage for chickens.
The muddiest wallows for pigs.
Tell them, God-Mom and God-Dad,
That we are grateful for their lives.
That we are sorry we did not do better by them.
Tell them that they are more than beef
More than pork.
Tell them they are precious
Beyond their grocered price.
Dollars and cents mean nothing,
For without them
We are nothing.
We pray that we can be worthy
Of Creation’s ever giving Sacrifice.
II.
We are grateful, God-Mom and God-Dad,
For the soil which sprouts us all.
Soil is saturated with divine magic—
To accept Death
And return Life.
We are grateful for the exchange
Of light for sugar,
Carbon for oxygen.
To photosynthesis for giving us
The taste of berries and the crunch of lettuce.
We are grateful for the lives of
Wild Yeast
Which gives us the gift of bread.
By the grace of wild yeast,
The sacrament will endure.
We are humbled to be a part of,
Not apart from,
The glorious dance of Creation.
Inspire us, God-Mom and God-Dad,
To dance our part well.
Inspire us to receive the Grace of Creation
Into our bodies—to be remade daily.
Inspire us to give Grace in return.
To ourselves and our neighbors.
Creation included.
III.
With fire, earth, water, air,
And a heaping cup of spirited love,
We have cooked a meal
In the Cosmos of our Kitchen.
A similitude of Creation.
Bless us with Presence that we may eat
And taste Grace made flesh.
Made vegetable.
Made fruit.
Let us savor the Divine Presence.
We give thanks for
for the superfluousness of tastiness,
God-Mom and God-Dad.
And the communion of food
And the company to share it with.
We are grateful for the table
Where we are made into family.
To share laughs, tears, stories, and fears.
For meals that fill bellies
Bind up the broken hearts
Lift up the hands that hang down,
And seal us to each other
Now and for Eternity.
IV.
And finally, God-Mom and God-Dad
We give thanks for the gift of life.
That we can take part in the dance of Creation, to
Breathe and
Smell and
Laugh and
Hear and
Feel and
Eat and
Love.
We pray in the name that embodies
Creation’s Grace and Power;
Life into Death into Renewed Life;
Jesus Christ
Amen.
