The Shine Journal

Love, Justice, and Turtle Soup

by

Weam Namou

A Native American man with long  hair walked into my place of business one day and verbally handed me a recipe, though I did not cook at the time and now that I do cook, I doubt I could follow the instructions he gave to me,though I'll never forget the recipe.

He said, nonchalantly:
If you want to make homemade turtle soup, you have to be careful and you must wait.

You'd want to catch a sea turtle because you get thirty or more pounds of meat from it - depending on weight. You need help too. A couple of men would do, to place the turtle inside a garbage barrel filled with fresh water. Close the lid and leave it there to starve.

It sounds brutal, I know, but there's no other way to do it if you want to have homemade turtle soup. Sea turtles can live up to a hundred years, so it takes a while for them to die. If someone tried to slaughter them, they'd release a poison into their system that would kill anyone who ate from it. One must therefore keep the area surrounding the garbage barrel quiet so the turtle doesn't think it has been caught by anyone but itself.

Turtles have a bad memory and will forget they were trapped.

People trap each other like that and call it love.

Elephants, on the other hand, don't forget.

If someone tried to hurt them, they come back in a hundred years to step on them.

People avenge each other like that and call it justice.

Motivation: A Native American friend who cares a great deal for animals and humans

Bio:  Weam Namou was born in Baghdad, Iraq as a minority Christian,  and came to America at age ten. The author of three novels,  she studied poetry in Prague and screenwriting at MPI (Motion  Picture Institute of Michigan). She is also the co-founder and  president of IAA (Iraqi Artists Association). Her articles and  poetry has appeared in national and international  publications.