Holy Shit

Seems common to regard the topic of shit as the opposite of the sublime. Perhaps that view is deeply rooted in the belief that our bodies and the rest of the physical world are separate from a sacred, spiritual plane. That view, which might predate Judaism and even older religions, involves thinking that our bodies are bad, and that our physical pains are the result of evil, our pleasures a cause of it. Even in the voluptuous era in which we live, that attitude toward our bodies may still operate beneath the surface. Either way, I don’t agree w/ it or w/ sci fi novelist Brian Aldiss who said, “civilization is the distance man has placed between himself and his excreta.” Shit gets deep, philosophically and scientifically, when we recognize it as a valuable resource; seeing, without shame or disgust, that this aspect of our bodily functions is part of nature’s cycles. I auspect human manure practices to be better than expending tremendous resources to put shit into our water; add chemicals to treat the water; and then spend more money and resources to filter out those chemicals. As part of a virtuous circle, if we consumed unadulterated plant-based foods and drinks, we’d generally require less pharmaceuticals, and have less of it in our shit, and, in turn, less of it in the humanure with which to enrich our depleting soil. No time to recoil Or wear tin foil, During peak oil, As Earth boils. Be loyal To the soil. It’s noble to toil, To keep holy shit From our holy water.