Pith, the moral fiber of a plant, conflict or commitment…the brutal act of severing the spinal cord of farm animals, slashing the lifeline of vegetation, beast or mankind.
Vulnerability tucked away deep into the fleshy core of a breathing vehicle, shielded by the façade of protection, whether it’s leafy green, unprocessed leather or thin naked skin, pith is penetrable. The cellular brains behind the waxy rind, the brittle bone or coarse hide of perseverance create the will of existence, or are crushed like an insect, that is what pith as a noun, a thing, is.
Then there is the action, to pith, the slaughtering of cattle by cruel method of slashing the rope of nerves that bind the vertebrae together, detaching the backbone of a futile life. The disconnect of the central artery of the nervous system, a death that undoubtedly leaves the body in a moment of spastic paralysis before the last frantic messages of distress can reach hoofed limbs. In a more flowery sense, to pith a plant is to remove the sticky inner tissue or sweet fruit.
