The Nighthawk Review, 2007

The

Review

literary magazine of The College of Eastern Utah

Editors:

Ben Bailey Natalee Maynes

Cover Artist and Designer: Shawn Height

Faculty Advisors: Nancy Takacs Jan Minich

Contributors:

Tim Arnold- Ben BaileyAlisa Bates- Leo Dolan Glenna EtzelGlenna Gilson Sonnet Gravina Steven Hansen- Zac Konakis- Tera Singh MatsudaNatalee Maynes- Karen TempletonDanny Velasquez- Justin Wilde

The editors would also like to thank Debbie Pearson for all her help College of Eastern Utah English Department ©2007 all rights revert to authors

Table of Contents

Poetry

Leo Dolan

Tim Arnold Sonnet Gravina

Danny Velasquez

Tim Arnold Ben Bailey

Karen Templeton Danny Velasquez Steven Hansen

The Show Goes On 5 Captain Smashdown 's Rabbit 6 Soul of the Sole 7 Man Stuff 8

Alisa Bates Karen Templeton Ben Bailey Tim Arnold Alisa Bates Natalee Maynes Zak Konakis Justin Wilde Glenna Etzel Glenna Gilson

Stories and Essays

What are you thinking? 10 BlackBox 11 Jiggs 12 Seeing in Haiku 14 Fading Gold 15 Praying Mantis 15 Superman 15 Mountain Pine 16 With Kent, Walking 17 Old Love 18

Intimate Fantasy 19 Tower of Bricks 20 BadDream 21 Tom 22 The Symbol 23 Modern Day Cinderella 24 Power 25

Danny Velasquez Land Wars 26

Leo Dolan In My Day 30

Tera Singh Matsuda Faces on the Table 33

Leo Dolan

The Show Goes On

Under the feeder (high in a tree), snow sits with patience. Paws disagree. Feathered shadows. Muffled sun. Succulent seeds only claws away.

The predator perches with breath so still. Eyes alert to every chirp, but kitty only came to have some fun.

The stage is set for the opening dance. Places. Places. Opening day.

Wait! Fur whirls. Feathers fly. Warning! Warning! Something's wrong. Change the plans, the scenes, the song. Like a school offish, they fly off with a screech.

The show will repeat as everyone knows. Another day brings other shows. "Ho Hum," she purrs, the innocent one. "Only came to have some fun."

And yawns.

Tim Arnold

Captain Smashdown's Rabbit

J want a hand held

20 millimeter 12 Ban-el electrically automatic Rabbit Gatling gun Belt fed Breach loaded Triple Action Unleashing

3000 hollow tipped explosive rounds with 272 grain that will blast the enemy into next Tuesday per minute

Chrome Shined Pin Striped Pin-Up Girl And don't forget

A chainsaw for a bayonet

And come to think of it, Include an engine hoist with wheels.

Sonnet Gravina

Soul of the Sole

Playfully, she reaches for me. I am preferred above all others. Her hand touching me softly, I am her chosen one.

I make my way from the darkness, Sleek and sexy, flaunting my curves. Indulging, caressing my supple flesh, Sliding slowly on for the perfect fit.

I am Italian artistry at its finest.

The color of the new moon on a clear night. Leather chiseled into clean lines Heel tapering down to barely touch the ground.

Pulses of faraway lands

Once traveled through me. Now I cross berber and tile daily, Tapping in monotony, as the sole wears away.

Dannv Velasquez

Man Stuff

My wife called me at work today and asked a favor. To stop by the Hardware Store on my way home, And buy two teacups. I'm not lying.

For me, this goes against everything I know about hardware stores. Things like power tools, hand tools, leather gloves, hunting knives, rifles and ammunition belong in a hardware store.

What is she thinking that I would find teacups amongst man stuff? Even ifl do, someone who knows me might see me.

Okay, here it is, just park my four-wheel drive in front, by the doors, in case, I need a quick ex.it. Deep breath and don't forget your keys, or do something stupid, like locking them in the truck.

Whew, I don't recognize anyone, and that means no one recognizes me .

There, to the left, girly-looking stuff: ribbons, lace, porcelain, and China teacups, in floral and romantic patterns. Estrogen, where testosterone should flow.

Well, as usual, she's right. Quick, choose two and exit swiftly.

Oh no, the clerk's a man. When I ask for a box for the teacups, he backs up and asks the other clerk, the woman, to ring up my order. I got to get out of here. Feels like my manliness is slipping, falling away. In my haste to leave, the box slips, but I catch it.

I can't get out of here fast enough, burn rubber.

Good thing that pheasant got hit on the hi-way. I'll stop and pick it up, toss it in the back of my truck, take it home, pluck it; tie flies with it's feathers and go fishing.

You know man stuff.

What are you thinking?

Gold rays shining at the top of my vision. Roll my eyes And see a fairy floating.

She is, Smart, Elite, Beautiful,

Flash Zip Move Forward Unzip Look Inside

I'm new here. I'll sit at the comer. Why did I come here?

I'm burning to talk to someone. I hate being afraid.

Will I be noticed? Looking, Looking, Looking,

Flash Zip Move Forward Unzip Look Inside Strong, Perfect, Eyes connect. Glow red. Jut my eyes forward, Lean back, And cover myself with violet clouds.

Tim Arnold

Black Box

Your gigantic mouth, fed me like the robin feeds her chicks. chewed up regurgitated spit, too easy to swallow, too easy to digest, with you there was. no reason to sing in the spring. no reason to fly south in the winter.

You 're really just black, an upside down head. Your two eyes that speak volumes of sex appeal, violence, greed. I control yow- five button brain with my choosing thumb. You don't have a nose, and maybe that's why you can't taste all that filth in you mouth.

Ben Bailey

Jiggs

All of my uncles had njck:names. Jiggs was the oldest and the one I loved best. He smelled of straw and oats and hand-rolled cigarettes. His eyes disappeared when he laughed.

I grew up listening to rus lilt and rhythm Like you listen to rain hit the roof of a tentsnuggled and warm, reluctant to leave.

Strays and orphans drifted to rum like the hayseed that caught in the cuffs of rus pants. He was always bringing home kittens to us, ''just until he found their mother."

He had a herd of Holsteins, but loved Jerseys and Guernseys for their gentile nature.

He named the cows after us and the pigs after presidents. Fertile thoughts grew during solitary hours driving the tractor milking the cows shoveling the srut into spreaders.

An eighth-grade graduate of a one-room school, Jiggs never left home except for the war. But instead of Korea, Jiggs saw an asylum A secret so fierce it lives longer than rum.

Karen Templeton

Only three teeth, he called them his "snappers" He wore dentures only to funeralshis highest respect for the recently dead.

Voices carry giftsHis gift was laughter. He called my mom "Tex" Tho' no one knows why.

Seeing in Haiku

Writers embellish, We have to we're not that fun. We'd bore you to tears

Dannv Velasquez

Effervescent fizz: Bubbles happily dancing

Around cold ice cubes. Hey train, where'd ya go?

You me wait ............................ forever. So, I went around. Two dogs sunbathing, One lays north, the other south. Ah, what springtime bliss. What a clever word Haiku. Wonder what it means, Linguistic beauty?

Steven Hansen

Fading Gold

No one pets Snooper, Grandpa's not in his chair. Major's not in his pen, Though Lady still runs to the car. Soon all constants will be gone.

Praying Mantis

Mantis on a leaf, Praying with your razor claws To your evil gods.

Superman

Superman flying To the rescue from the sky. Do those tights chafe you?

Mountain Pine

(Ekphrastic Poem for Henry Elkins: After the Storm [1882])

Fresh snow blankets distant mountains. Sunset yellows the lifting clouds. Cold droplets seep into my bark. Soon the roar of the waterfall will be silenced.

I shiver. Will I gain another ring? How long will this crevice support my roots, before the rock splits and I crash?

During one late autumn blizzard, I gave support to the tree beside me. Still, I embrace her. Together, we survived a four ring drought,

Alisa Bates which left many of our needles brittle and brown.

My greenest branch stretches across the rock, seeking reflection in the pool. I stifle the urge to call it back.

My needles reach skyward.

Karen Templeton

With Kent, Walking

Mountains stretch and whisper to you," ... come." Dark purples breathe their siren's songs and dreams. Ravens laugh on orange canyon winds. You hear and understand, love in return.

Wistful, I see--but fail-I cannot hear. I walk beside you, Fall behind you, Jealous of this other lover.

October rustles dusty desert grasses, Seeds bite the dogs and ride home on our socks. You carry home the quiet of the desert. I carry home two pockets full of rocks.

Ben Bailey

Old Love

Peter Pan flying in open windows flew into Rapunzel's tower. Peter had a funny shadow. It traveled before him always and never after. Rapunzel insisted "Peter it just isn't proper. I will sew it to your foot with a strand of my hair"

Peter agreed because he was young, had too much carefree passion. Rapunzel was older, had spent all her life trapped inside a tower.

Rapunzel knew her hair was too long for a short sewing. Peter was there for a long long time.

Tim Arnold

Intimate Fantasy

Draw my fingers

Along the valley of your toes

Gliding my palm

Around outlines of your leg

Gracefully cling

Your curvaceous silhouette

Breathe strawberries

Throughout each strand of your hair

Then gently lay

My head on top of your chest

And feel the thumps

Of loneliness escaping.

Tower of Bricks

A white colonial house built on a tower of bricks overlooked the city.

From my window, I saw the tower teetering.

Right, then left, picking up speed. No earthquake to cause it, no breeze to propel it, just swaying on its own above the city. Will it fall? I wondered. Should I call for help?

Surely someone else had sent for help.

As I watched, the house dipped low, then toppled to the ground, splattering into pieces. The woman inside it died. No one saved her.

Alisa Bates

Bad Dream

I was teaching you the significance of the stars; we sat on alien red dirt and watched the sky.

Suddenly we saw chaos move like lightning through the constellations; a ljving spirit black as a hole, larger than the moon, unexplainable.

You began screarrung at the sky, threw rocks at the chaos, were crying: "What does it mean?"

The chaos churned like nausea inside my head; I was on my knees, pulling out hair, as if it would remove the madness in the sky.

There were others nearby; they saw the chaos too. They were writhing in the dirt, howling and clawing at the air; no one understood the awful apparition except me, I knew what it was, but said nothing.

Then I woke up.

Natalee Maynes

Tom

In the beginning

There was this dream

Not of His apple pie or bitter coffee

But of ripe eyes

Fresh for the plucking

The confines of the wheelchair

Are in no way

A place for a free spirit to roam. But a smile would never fade From those care free eyes.

Out of sight out of mind? How could I ever explain; Could he ever understand

Words like malignant

Or the meaning of You won't live for much longer?

Standing at the point Where hollow words meet

Zak Konakis But just beyond the other side of musing Peering like a flower never taught to grow Someone fond of living always will remember.

We are blessed. We endure

The lunacy and blindness

And the pain of a tumor

The neurologists shed tears;

And as he laughed absentmindedly Sucking the olives off of his finger tips

Justin Wilde

The Symbol

The ultimate and perfect form, Since the beginning worshipped by man. In it, the earth, sun and moon are born And as a reminder we place it on our hand.

It is small and high in cost; Smooth yet scuffed, and silver around. It makes you feel like shit if lost, But a hea1t jumps and leaps when found.

There is no beginning, and no end, Like destined lovers when each is found. A sacred emblem of an eternal friend, Worn as a pair when two hearts are bound.

...

Modern Day Cinderella

My shoe, it slipped, so gently off As I began to run.

The memory of what I had just done Now frozen in my brain. Too scared to tum around And pick up my slipper of glass, My heart loudly pounding As I feel him right behind me. Never had I twirled, and whirled So much before today, A thing I didn't mean to do.

But with all the excitement, My intent began to fall, Before long my purpose gone, And I had forgotten exactly why I had come to this ball.

But had I not, things would be worse Imagining him with her,

Glenna Etzel Together they could wrongly rule the world. Oh now my heart it pounds, and pounds As I begin to grab this door. ..

Glenna Gilson

Power

Such an elegant creature. Daintily sips from the toilet, Licks the part of her body she sits on And coughs up hairballs.

Regally, proudly, she reclines on the back of the couch, with one eye open suspiciously regarding all that serve her.

Little children would like to hug her. She says, "That will not do." She uses her claws to enforce the laws.

Queen OB, an ebony spitfire, with Hall-o-ween eyes powerfully rules.

From time to time I almost like her.

Danny Velasquez

Land Wars

The aroma of hot lard and frying bacon drifted from the open window. A string of scarlet-red chilies hung near the doorway and the chickens scratched the yellow dirt searching for missed seeds from yesterday. For the past three-months, the Rio Puerco provided life-giving water to this wild, thirsty, and promising New Mexico valley rancho. The spring sun painted spires onto the red cliffs behind their mud adobe casita, while a pair of red-tailed hawks swooped into the field grass, snatching breakfast mice.

Celestino sat tall upon his chestnut stallion, proudly admiring the few white-faced cattle he recently purchased as they grazed near the streambed. Taking in the beauty and stillness of the morning, he thought that he smelled bacon frying. Beyond the river's bend, behind the cattails, hidden, down in the arroyo, four strangers looked on - the one in the pony soldier's hat muttered curses at the rancho in progress.

Celestino worked the rancho. The work was backbreaking, yet rewarding, and he loved it. He was paying for it on monthly installments, using the two years' savings he acquired by working in the potato fields in Colorado's Archuleta County, as down payment, while Reducinda, his young wife, had bought the stove, blue and white speckled cookware, plates and utensils, and their wrought iron bed from her dowry. And on this day, their first wedding anniversary, they planned to celebrate their hard work.

From conversations with neighboring ranchers, Celestino heard that ruthless Comanche raiders from Abiquiu Pueblo claimed this valley, yet neither he nor his neighbors on the adjacent farms had crossed paths with them. It's rumored that Reducinda's abuelo or one of her tios, was captured and placed into slave labor by raiders from Abiquiu Pueblo. However, today the aroma of the eggs gathered by his newlywed wife, accompanied the sizzling bacon in the frying pan, and it called Celestino in. The wood powder box held pinion-palitos ready to fuel the cast stove adjacent it, where

the creosoted coffee pot and fiying pan sent out their delectable aromas. Above the wood box, a matchbox holder hung on the wall, waiting to surrender another matchstick. Skillets and a wooden rolling pin decorated the wall on the right side of the stove. As he entered the casita, she poured him a strong cup of coffee while telling him to wash his hands in the basin, reminding him to use the soap or the towel gets soiled.

Their dog, a Border-collie-coyote cross, growled warily underneath the open window, giving warning of trespassers. Celestino spied the farm's landscape through the open window, saw movement across the field in the distance, called the dog in, and closed and bolted the window's heavy wooden shutters and the door. He retrieved his Winchester from above the door, and his Colt and cartridges from the cupboard drawer. They quickly moved the wrought iron bed, revealing the crawlspace access door he fashioned for emergencies such as this. Celestino ordered Reducinda to enter the crawlspace through the hinged-door floorboards. He told her to remain in there and promised her that he would see her soon. They embraced tightly, kissed, and she descended the five steps, turned, looked up at him, and sat down on the hard packed dirt floor. "Orar por mi, por favor," Celestino asked. "Si, yo orar por ti," she answered, sighing softly after she spoke. He closed the hinged door behind her and quickly pushed the bed into its original position.

Living in this untamed land, Celestino knew that any day, Comanche raiders would try to take his land, his home, and try to kill him and his wife. Knowing this, he prepared for it. Living off the land he was an expert sharpshooter, if not, they would starve. But, he had never shot at another person. Arrows and bullets pelted the front door and the wooden shutters while wild Comanche screams sent chills through his veins. "Senor-Jesus, ayuda-me por favor," Celestino groaned out in nervous fear as removed the wooden plank and slid the rifle barrel through the six-inch-high rifle window, enough room to see out and shoot. Steadying himself, he took aim at a stealthy moving figure of a man, sneaking toward the casita, took a deep breath, and squeezed off a shot. He recognized the familiar thud of the bullet hitting

flesh and bone, the same sound when he dropped a six-point elk the past winter; only now it was human flesh his bullet pierced, and a human life it took.

Killing men was not easy, but it was either Comanche lives, or his and his wife's. It was an easy decision. The barrage of arrows and bullets continued pounding into the door and at his rifle window. He felt a sting on the left side of his forehead but had no time to stop and look as flaming arrows stuck into the door. It would be a matter of time before the door would burn and the enemy could enter. Celestino determined that would not happen. Taking careful aim, he shot another, and then a third Comanche. An eerie quiet echoed through the casita, while he anxiously reloaded his rifle. Sweat dripped into his eyes, and sweat mixed with blood dripped over his brow, into his left eye. Wiping it away with his sleeve, he peered out the smoke covered rifle window, as the smoke from his rifle and smoke from the doors and shutters found their way into the casita. With no other choice, he unlatched the front door and bolted out, to remove the fiery arrows.

Sparse bullets peppered the door; a sharp pain in his left side spun him around, facing outward, toward the enemy fire. Lifting his rifle, he quickly aimed and shot at a fleeing Comanche. The savage fell to the ground, rolled several times, leaving his pony soldier's hat behind, and then scurried back up, holding his side while limping to his lone horse. He leaped atop his paint yelling curses, as he rode off.

Celestino hurriedly removed the remaining flaming arrows from the casita door and shutters. Remembering his wife, he felt his adrenaline push aside the heavy bed; he opened the hinged door and called to Reducinda. With tears rolling down her rosy cheeks, she came to him. Fear and concern weighed heavily upon her face as she saw blood dripping down his forehead and from his side. She caringly wiped the blood from his forehead with the hem of her long skirt, and examined the wound on his side. The smell of smoke filled their home, wood smoke and burned bacon and eggs.

That day they would celebrate a victory, but Celestino knew their adversaries would return, someday.

The aroma of fried eggs and bacon captured the attention of Uvaldo, the second-born son of Celestino and Reducinda, as his wife Cecilia, prepared his breakfast. The open south window lent itself to the sights and sounds of the farm: stringed chilies swayed in the breeze, their dog barked at strangers in the bordering field, the cat c1ied for her morning milk while the chickens scratched the yellow dirt searching for missed seeds from yesterday. Life on the rancho was hard, it had always been hard, yet rewarding, and Uvaldo determined to keep it that way. After chores, he spent the morning, like so many mornings, searching intently, filing, and sorting, and he stacked, and re-stacked papers from the lawyers, onto their rarely used dining room table. It had become the central location for legal papers regarding the valley's settlers and the Northern New Mexico Federal Land Grant of 1857. Across the table were stacks of the opposition's legalese: papers that presented the claims of their ruthless, wealthy clients from Abiquiu Heights, who had claimed the valley for their own personal gain. Neighboring ranchos have been taken over in expensive legal disputes, subdivided, and developed into one and two-acre lots by anxious developers desiring to please their greedy bosses.

And this morning, like so many others, Cecelia poured his strong coffee, told her husband of 70 years to put down the fight, at least for the moment, and come eat breakfast before his bacon and eggs burned. He agreed, and took off his glasses, folding the temple pieces in, one over the other, and slid them in his shirt pocket. He sat down to the table, and reached for his coffee. He steadied his shaking hand with his good one, and lifted his cup to his weathered lips. A wisp of steam rose up his face, curled over the bridge of his nose, misted his left eyelash, and made him blink. He paused, and looked out the window, across the field to where their dog barked like his father, Uvaldo knew ...

Leo Dolan

In My Day

In my day, we got jobs when we were ten. The depression was three at the time, same age as my new baby brother. My job wasn't too bad. The newspapers were heavy and smelled of ink, and the presses screamed like banshees. They'd ruin your ears if you let them. The first stop on my route was Walter's Bakery. They got up at three too, and always gave you a free donut. Donut for your little brother too, if he was along. Too bad about that war with the Germans. My town closed the bakery down just because Walter was from Germany. He was a mce guy.

In my day a little sister and brother were fun except that she was bossy at times, and Bub, he had enough devil in him for all three of us. Sometimes I'd tell mama I did something bad that Bub did just so mama' d leave him alone for a change. Sis, too. That's what big brothers were for.

Me, I had dreams. I dreamed of schools that were not so hard, teachers that were not so mean, and subjects I could understand. Bub and Sis were smart in school, but I had dreams. Sometimes I dreamed about being the guy that

ran the printing presses. I dreamed that my country was better than all those other countries that wanted to kill us. I dreamed of being a soldier and helping.

In my day there was a war in Pearl Harbor and lots of us quit high school to help our country win. I joined the U. S. Navy, and got sent to more schools that I didn't understand, but I loved the uniform and the hat. I didn't get to wear them in the submarine. I found out that war meant a lot more than war bonds, flags, and stuff. War meant torpedoes and bombs aimed right at you and your buddies _and your dead buddies.

In my day, when the war was over, you went to college even if you didn't have to, and without paying for it. Someone charged it to the G. I. bills. Me, I still liked newspapers so I studied what they called journalism. You had to study English too, which was silly since I already spoke it. Ha Ha. Get it? The hometown newspaper loved the old paperboy who was a hero and a writer now, and so they made him a reporter. Where was I? What was I going to say?

One day, Mama and the pastor said they thought it was high time for me to settle down. Start thinking about a wife and babies. Railroads. Brakemen got paid more than reporters, but it didn't last all year. We could follow the crops to the south. They had to have railroads and brakemen down there, didn't they? They hired Yankees during crop season. We had to eat. We had to get set up for something Was it to migrate? Or get seniority, or permanent or what? That seems to be a Jot of moving around for a family. Did I have a family?

My dreams and my days got better at times. I married my wonderful Betty. She moved to our town to teach school. She taught me a lot. Was it then she got pregnant? One time I got a new job in California. It paid good, and had something to do with rockets. That doesn't sound like me, but I think it's true. Ask Betty. We had four sons. I used to be able to tell you their names and birthdays. I think some of them got married. That's it! Grandkids! Betty, what were their names, again?

In my day, things weren't so confusing and didn't changing. I don't remember them.

You're what? How can you sit there and give me that crap about being my brother? I never had a brother.

I need to go rest.

Tera Singh Matsuda

Faces on the Table

Many of the problems humanity faces today are due to apathy and a sense of disconnection. It is hard enough for humans to see the connection between their diets, what we put in our mouths, and how healthy our bodies are, and even harder to see the connection between large scale animal farming and the resource depletion of our planet. The Native American Indians had a practice of considering how any act of theirs would influence the lives of the next seven generations. Have you ever thought about what consequences your acts will cause even twenty years from now? What will your body look like if you continue your current eating practices for twenty years? What will our planet look like if the current high soil erosion and pesticide use rates are continued for twenty years? It is understandably hard to feel like one has any power over the direction our country and planet is headed, but there are a few things you are in control over. You are capable of controlling what you consume. When humans do not consume animal meat our bodies and environments are healthier. Philosophers since the Golden Age have been looking at the ethics of eating meat. Religions have been promoting vegetarianism for millennia. Conservationists and Biologists constantly publicize works on the dangers of our current consumption rates. And finally, doctors are finding more and more evidence showing the dangers of eating a nonvegetarian diet.

A vegetarian lifestyle is not the only way to live, but it is healthier for the body. In Gary Null's, The New Vegetarian, he makes a good point, "We aren't going to propose that ... a meat centered diet will lead to a life plagued with disease and/or your premature demise," (17) There are discemable advantages to not eating meat though. In their book, Eating in the Light, Virtue and Prelitz show that vegetarians eat more antioxidants and fiber, less cholesterol and fat, and still eating adequate protein. They attribute this diet to vegetarians "lower rates of cancer, heart disease,

diabetes, obesity, hypertension, gallstones, and kidney stones" (19). In fact, authors Barnard, Nicholson, and Howard did a study for the journal, Preventive Medicine, and found that because of the for-mentioned problems and food borne illnesses, "The total direct medical costs attributable to meat consumption for 1992 [were] estimated at +28.6-61.4 billion, [concluding that] health care costs attributable to meat consumption are quantifiable and substantial" (Barnard, Nicholson, Howard). Jim Motavalli wrote for E Magazine that, "There is some evidence to suggest that the human digestive system was not designed for meat consumption" (Motavalli). Because meat is in a state of auto-putrification it needs to move through the system quickly. Animals that are meant to eat meat have very short digestive tracts, like dogs who processes food in about five hours, and they are able to get the nutrients out of the meat before it starts to poison them. Humans, by comparison, have a long digestive tract and food takes around twenty four hours to be eliminated, and meat becomes toxic before it can be eliminated. Energetically, food has the most energy soon after being harvested. Vegetables and fruit are in a more stable condition after being "picked" than meat is after it is "killed." Meat is acid forming in the body, and body acidy is linked to cancer growth. William T. Blows, author of, The Biological Basis for Nursing : Clinical Observations, says that, "A change of just 0.1 in the pH can be hazardous to health" (75). When the body is alkaline the mind is calmer and focusing on tasks is easier, this is important for everyone, but especially people with yogic and meditation practices. Null found that the Japanese Buddhists, people very sensitive to how stimuli affects the body, believed that "animal passions" were stirred by eating meat and, "non-flesh diets led to tranquility. vi11ue, and health" (30). Meat eaters often ask, "Why would you want such a limiting diet?" The truth is that a meat centered diet is far more limiting than a vegetarian diet. Vegetarians only limit a few of the foods commonly available, beef, pork, fish, and poultry, while replacing them with a wide variety of vegetables. The important thing to look at is the quality of the food you eat. Null points out that supermarket fruits and vegetables may have detectable amounts of residual pesticides, but meat is

"soaked with hom1ones, arsenic, and accumulations of pesticides," and fish is "loaded with varying concentrations of mercury and other industrial waste" (31). Is this polluted food what you want to feed yow- children and yourself? People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, or PET A, shows us that hea1t disease starts in childhood, and by eating a diet without animal ingredients (vegan) people can actuaJiy reverse heart disease. (PETA)

It is hard to see the connection our daily consumption of meat has on the environment. In the 1960' s F ranees Moore Lappe wrote the book, "Diet for a Small Planet" in which she compiled some alarming statistics concerning the resource depletion linked to large scale animal farming: Producing just one pound of steak uses 2,500 gallons of water .... Livestock production, including water for U.S. crops fed to livestock abroad, accounts for about half of all water consumed in the United States Com and soybeans, the country's major animal feed crops, are linked to greater topsoil erosion than any other crops .... To produce a pound of steak, which provides us with 500 calories of food energy, takes 20,000 calories of fossil fuel.

(Lappe JO)

Why be concerned with water use? Paya! Sampat wrote for World Watch that a huge percent of rural America relies on groundwater, 95% in fact, and it takes an average of 1,400 years for aquifers to replenish themselves. This slow rate of renewal makes these water somces we depend on virtually non-renewable (Sampat). Lappe says that, in only two decades, Texas has used one-quarter of the water in their aquifers, water which is mainly used to grow sorghum for cows (Lappe 78). PETA makes a valid point in saying, "You can't be a meat-eating environmentalist!" The rainforests used to get coverage before people got tired of hearing about the disaster, but 125,000 square miles are still being deforested eve1y year to raise animals for food. There are many more serious effects of meat centered diets: Twenty times more land is required to feed a

meat-eater than to feed a pure vegetarian .... A typical pig factory farm generates a quantity of raw waste equal to that of a city of 12,000 people .... Producing a single hamburger patty uses enough fossil fuel to drive a small car 20 miles and enough water for 17 showers .... Raising animals for food requires more than onethird of all raw materials and fossil fuels used in the United States (PETA "Eating").

Eating meat has been a luxury throughout the world's history, and remains that way for most of the world's population. Our pride has gotten the best of us in modem days, and we feel we should eat meat for every meal because we can afford to now, where we couldn't in the past. This kind of thinking is personally limiting and a symptom of people living in fear. It is understandable that people living in poverty feel this way, but for people who do not need to kill others to sustain their own life this type of thinking is not up to speed with the evolution of our highly technological human civilization. Philosophers from all around the world, for thousands of years, have questioned the ethics of consuming animals to sustain human life. Virtue and Prelitz found vegetarianism in the eastern religions of Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, the Jains, and the Krishna devotees. The sect of Jews known as the Essenes is vegetarian. Many different sects of Christian monks including the Trappists practice vegetarianism if at all possible. And the philosophers, scientists and writers Pythagoras, Seneca, Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, and Albert Einstein did not eat meat. In fact, Einstein said, ''Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet" (Virtue, Prelitz 3). All of these people work hard in the fields, create strong and prosperous city states, and prosper in business without taking advantage of animals. Many of the eastern religions believe in the concept of "karma." Karma is a simple cause and effect view of life where it is believed you will experience all the pain and suffering that the animals you killed were put through. Another argument is how much benefit the resources we

consume in animal products could do if they were used more efficiently. Walters wrote in his book, Ethjcal Vegetarianism: From Pythagoras to Peter Singer,"If everyone in the developed world became a vegetarian, it would be possible to give every starving person 4 tons of edible grain" (Walters). Virtue and Prelitz remind us that 40,000 cruldren die everyday from starvation. (13) The developed world is selfishly consuming a slothful amount of resources that could be used to feed these starving children. For the United States to exist in such a noncharitable state is embarrassing, wasteful, unetrucal, and not Christian like.

Gone are the days of family farms producing quality meats in wholesome environments. Since the Second World War anjmals have been being raised more and more efficiently. The PET A orgaruzation has been instrumental in exposing the cruel life of today's factory farmed animals. Chickens are not raised in barnyards, they are kept in cages packed to the point that the birds don't have enough room to open up their wings once in their whole lives. Chickens' beaks are seared off with hotplates to keep them from pecking each other in their packed cages. They're kept without food or water for long periods while being transported to the packing factories, and upon arrival they are often scalded alive. Cattle, the least efficient meat source, have their horns lopped off and are branded multiple times without pain killers. They are tormented with electric prods. A conservative estimate of I 00,000 animal "units" yearly are too sick to carry their own weight off of the trucks they are delivered to market in, and are moved onto the production line with forklifts and chains. The cows are hooked by one heel and hoisted into the air before having their neck cut. Pigs are "grown" in cages too narrow to tum around in where they often go crazy and chew neurotically on the metal bars from lack of stimulus. Their tails are cropped, teeth pulled out, and they are castrated while conscious and without pain killers. Their soft feet, meant to live in loamy environments, often break because of the weight they put on exponentially after being subjected to growth hormones and force feeding. (PET A "chew on") Trus is the "quality" of today's meat, and you and your family deserve to get your protein from better sources.

A major concern people have with a vegetarian diet is the belief that it lacks sufficient protein. Vegetarians are constantly asked by worried friends and family members, "How are you going to get enough protein?" Lappe calls this mindset the "Great American Steak Religion". (Lappe 12) We were all exposed to the Food Pyramid in our childhoods that placed meat in the staples section, but at that time we couldn't see or comprehend that the poster was published and printed by the meat industry. Lappe cites the National Academy of Sciences' daily recommended requirements of 54 grams of protein for an "average" 154 pound male, and 44 grams of protein for an "average" 128 pound woman. (Lappe 170) Without even trying, 55 grams of protein could easily be consumed in Americas fast passed lifestyle. Marion Franz wrote a book listing the nutrients in fast food, so lets say you have one egg biscuit (IO g) from McDonalds for breakfast, a foot 'Jong Veggie Delite with cheese (20 g) for lunch from Subway, and just two slices of a medium cheese pan pizza (28 g) from Pizza Hut for dinner, that's a total of 58 grams of protein without eating much food at all. (Franz 104-131)

Anyway you cook it, and no matter what flavorings you add to it, meat is still the flesh, the muscle of another sentient being. Animals feel pain just like humans do. Animals run from danger, create lasting inter-personal bonds within families and packs, and deserve to live free lives in their natural environments. My dad called me one day to tell me how he had just met a remarkable cow named Bessy, who had been raised as a family pet. She started out as a Four H project, but when butchering time came the family could not go through with it because they had created such strong emotional ties with her. Bessy will come when called, loves to be petted, and knows how to play fetch with a ball. Pigs are also good pets and are said to be even more intelligent than dogs.

So where do you draw the line? Would you eat your dog or your cat? Because of the improved quality of your pet's food they probably would be healthier to eat that the livestock people eat for meat at the dinner table. In the same way, you would be healthier eating a vegetarian diet, and the world will be a better place for generations to come if you stop

consuming inefficiently produced, unethically grown and environmentally unsound animal products. Works Cited Barnard, ND, Nicholson, A, and J L Howard. "The medical costs attributable to meat consumption." Preventive Medicine 24.6 (1995): 646-655. MEDLINE. 8, Ebsco Host. The College of Eastern Utah Online Database. April 2007. <http://search.ebscohost.com.> Blows, William T., (2001). The Biological Basis for Nursing : Clinical Observations. London, New York, Routledge.

Chew On This: Reasons To Go Vegetarian. Prod. Shooters Post & Transfer. Dir. Scott Whitham. DVD. PET A. Dombrowski, Daniel A. (1984). The Philosophy of Vegetarianism. Amherst, The University of Massachusetts Press. Franz, Marion J. Ms. Rd. Ld. Cde. (1998). Fast Food Facts: The Original Guide for Fitting Fast Food Into a Healthy Lifestyle. Minneapolis, JDC Publishing. Lappe, Frances Moore. (1971). Diet for a Small Planet. New York, Ballantine Books. Null, Gary, Null, Steve. (1978). The New Vegetarian: Building Your Health Through Natural Eating. New York, William Morrow and Company, Inc. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Eating Meat Leaves Behind An Environmental Toll That Generations To Come Will Be Forced To Pay. Norflolk, VA. PETA. January 2003. Sampat, Payal. "Groundwater Shock: The Polluting of the World's Major Freshwater Stores." World Watch Jan/Feb.(2000) pp. 10-22. Sirs database. College of Eastern Utah Library. 3 April 2007 <http://library.ceu.edu:2060/cgi-bin/hst-articledisplay?id=SUTO1 10-0404&artno=0000 111009&type=ART &shfilter=U&ke y=depleted%20aquifers&res=Y &ren=Y &gov=Y &In k=N&ic=N>

Virtur, Doreen Ph.D., Prelitz, Becky M.F.T., R.D. (2001).

Eating in tbe Light: Making the Switch to Vegetarianism on Your Spiritual Path. Carlsbad, Hay House Inc. Walters, Kerry S. (1999). Ethical Vegetarianism: From Pythagoras to Peter Singer. Albany: N.Y. State University of New York Press. Motavalli, Jim. (2002). "The Case Against Meat." E MAGAZINE Jan./Feb pp. 26-33. Sirs database. Ceu online database. 9 April 2007. <http://library.ceu.edu:2060/cgi-bin/hst-a1ti~ledisplay>