J.S. Brockmeyer [08/17/2006]

To the editor:The following savory words are from Pierre Berton's "The Invasion of Canada," a reminder of how wonderful it is to be human: "A few days [mid-January, 1813] after battle, the French inhabitants, emerging at last from their homes, are treated to a ghastly spectacle. Trotting along the roadway come droves of hogs that have been feeding off the corpses [of dead soldiers] and are now carrying off the remainswhole arms and legs, skulls, bits of torso and entrails clamped between their greedy jaws." Nice touch, that greedy jaws. Four generations later, in the age of instant information transfer and retrieval, greedy jaws continue to feast. Soldiers continue to fight and demand honor and respect, and we all, intentionally or not, feed off their, and civilians', corpses. Yum. Delicious. Heart pumping blood sacrifices to keep our saliva flowing.And to keep words flowing, too. One right after the other, filling up small portions of your neural pathways while you snack on your sandwich or pastry or coffee or whatever, consuming your world bit by bit to keep your blood flowing, eating your way to a better tomorrow. Better. Now that's a word to keep humming in your neurons.