[Vocabulary] pick apart?

[wsbaik]

And even without that unwelcome and vivid fear in my mind,
I can't find any way around the horror of being left alone down there in the dark,
picked apart by processes about which I'm a little bit squeamish
even when they're just fertilizing my daylilies.


What do you mean by "picked apart" in the above sentence?
Help me, please!

 

[MikeNewYork]

And even without that unwelcome and vivid fear in my mind,
I can't find any way around the horror of being left alone down there in the dark,
picked apart by processes about which I'm a little bit squeamish
even when they're just fertilizing my daylilies.


What do you mean by "picked apart" in the above sentence?
Help me, please!

It appears to refer to the processes that are involved in the decomposition of a dead body.

 

[Rover_KE]

Please quote the source of this quotation, wsbaik.

 

[wsbaik]

It's a part of "A matter of life and death" by Ms. Marjorie Williams(Vanity Fair).
If you google just a part of it, you can read the full text.
Thank you for your interest, and if you any slight idea, please advise me.^^

 

[wsbaik]

Hi MikeNewYork
Thank you very much for your kind comment.

 

[JMurray]

not a teacher

As MikeNY says, it's clearly to do with the decomposition of the human body. In this case it probably refers particularly to the action of worms which are commonly assumed to take over one's body after burial, as well as being beneficial to the growth of day lilies and other flowering plants.