Giving Them a VOICE

Cherry

By Bee

Wed, 28 Jan 2015
  • 2180 reads
7 comments
 

We who are about to die
silence cries behind the bars
that cripple limbs.

Crushed in body, mind and spirit,
bruised with sticks; transported
gasping, to a destination where death 

is but a consolation for our fate,
we're skinned of dignity; kindness 
of a family; home, a vivid memory.

We watch as fellow captives blister
in the flames, drown down river,
shiver, conscious of the knives that slice 

through healthy sinuses - bones. Dropped live
into the vats of spitting stock, we scream
through curdled blood. Blood

is on your hands. Guilty man, may every evil
deed you've done to us come back to haunt
you; may you suffer in your dreams, each cut

and choke; feel the burn of boiling oil, as do
the innocents who perish by the millions,
at your hands, until you feel the need to STOP.


 

Certificate 15
Poem
Other Non-fiction

Comments

Submitted by Rhiannonw on

Horrible, Bee. Getting callous like this to animal suffering, must so easily lead to callousness to human suffering too. Rhiannon

 

Submitted by Bee on

That's my belief, too, Rhiannon. Thank you.

Bee

Submitted by london_calling79 on

So many times you use the letter 'I'. It really gives a snarl to this poem.

 

Submitted by Bee on

Hi LC.

I think you are right - it does weigh heavy with the letter 'i' with that spitting, hissing thing going on. I hope it worked like that, anyway. Thanks so much for reading and thinking about the writing. Very much appreciated.

Bee

Submitted by jeand on

Hi Bee

This is the twin piece to the one I read yesterday, and just as biting in its message. But even in ths country, people kill lobsters live and listen to the noise they make as they go into the boiling water.

I can see you are going to make vegetarians out of the bunch of us. But maybe fish don't count as much. After all, before they are caught, they have very good lives, and they die quickly.

Jean

Jean Day

Submitted by Bee on

That point about lobsters is one I read about, used to balance any western argument against the cruel practices in the many countries who eat dogs and cats. I don't know how much fear a lobster experiences, compared with dogs and cats. I don't know if they feel as terrified when seeing their mates go into the pot before them, hearing their (non vocal) screams as they hit the water for the second it is supposed to take for them to die, but in any case, I couldn't bring myself to eat lobster - (vegetarians don't eat fish because they aren't vegetables). There is so much actual cruelty in the meat industry in every country, much of which can be avoided if we shop with care, but here, it is at least, considered unacceptable to put animals through the torture those poor creatures suffer on a daly basis where eyes are blind to their real suffering. The many animal loving people in those countries are trying to stop these barbaric practices, where although mostly against the law, authorities don't interfere. There are petitions we can sign on line, and various charities, too. Otherwise, I don't know what the answer is. 

Thank for reading it, Jean - and for thinking. That's great feedback and I'm pressing the button.

Bee

Submitted by Bee on

For the cherries - thanks so much!

Bee