The Beauty of the Dark Side

Reading Gary Snyder's "Decomposed" in The Practice of the Wild, I come across the line: "the dark side of nature--the ball of crunched bones in scat, the feathers in the snow, the tales of insatiable apetite" (118). The feathers on the concrete path here on campus come to mind. I've never seen anything quite like the two-foot-wide scatter pattern of feathers. Having lived in suburban areas my whole life, I'm used to seeing carcasses on pavement. The sight isn't pleasant, but it's familiar.

The feathers on the concrete path would shelter a naked bird, but the body has left them behind. Some animal sat on the path one night, stripped its prey of her clothing and stole off with the body. I shudder at the thought of being denuded and carried off by an unknown predator. In the context of wilderness, though, the feathers on the concrete represent an appropriate cycle. They are a sign that everything will be alright. I mourn the loss of the bird; I'm glad the bear had a nice meal. I thank him for not leaving the carcass behind after the kill.

*Gary Snyder, The Practice of the Wild, San Francisco: North Point, 1990.