To Hell With Meat

To hell with meat!
To men who load the animal
Alive and kicking,
‘Finger licking’.
Down with transport mean and evil,
Cruel, contemptible and vile!
Yes to bean and green and boycott.
Can’t you feel
A  burst and shrinking of the heart,
Smarting from
The crushed, the smothered, starved of drink?
What ARE we thinking?
Down with law’s futility,
To values without empathy!
We, who buy expensive food for bird and cat,
Keep doggie fat -
Where ARE we at?
Can we not do without?
Find other foods to eat and buy,
The price of giving up so high
We cannot sacrifice,
Waive appetite, and by and by
Find other possibilities?
The drumbeat of our lust for meat
Exchanged for keeping all things living
Live with mercy.

To Hell With Meat 8.2.2016
Our Times, Our Culture II;
Arlene Corwin