Please tell me, what would you do
if you were confined in a zoo
and all of the animals
from lizards to camels
strolled around pointing at you?
Now tell me, how would you feel,
if you were encased behind steel
while the chimpanzees
watched your antics with glee
and laughed at you eating your meal?
So, what if the tables were turned?
It’s time the corrupted ones learned
just like human beings
those creatures have feelings
and all of us should be concerned.
Inspired by the Government’s recent faux pas (how’s that for an understatement?) over the sentience of animals.
©Jane Paterson Basil
Making it write 
This Christmas all animals from the neighbourhood are invited to eat with us.
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I hope you have a large dining room.
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Good poem and that has crossed my mind also. Like that. Not just zoos but farmer’s too? All on parade, for us. Most of them are ruminants. Eating is their main preoccupation. When living in Wales some friends lived in a town with a abattoir. Every so often, one cow would escape and charge through town. Trying to escape. What would we do if confined to a cage. Reminds one of “Planet of the Apes”. Cheers Jamie.
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Farming methods are horrendous, then when the animals go to the abattoir, they often die hanging upside down, in terror, as the stun gun doesn’t always knock them out.
I should become vegan. Dairy farming isn’t carried out in an acceptable way.
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Jane …Yes, but vegan? Not for me, right now. We buy organic dairy products. I eat some fish, too. Fish sauce, mostly. It’s really difficult to handle empathy, it seems? If someone wishes to be vegan? I applaud them. I eat a lot of beans. Butter, pinto, garbanzo, etc. Lentils are my favourite legume. The production of margarine, is a little dubious. Our brains are made of cholesterol. We need some natural fat to help maintain them. Cheers Jamie
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Several family members are vegan, so it’s on my conscience… but I love cheese, and I agree with you about margarine. A niece swears it’s OK, but I see vegans eating all sorts of weird preformed pretend meats and synthetic dairy products and it horrifies me – not that all vegans have such peculiar habits. You’re right – organic is the way to go, both for the sake of health, and out of compassion for animals.
I’m glad chestnuts aren’t meat products… wouldn’t want to give them up. They’re better than sirloin steak any day.
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Didn’t see chestnuts much, in BC, During the first 20 years here. Although there are a few planted in Lakeside Park in Nelson. They take many years to mature. We see them now in markets around xmas time. But given the expense. Is prohibitive, for me.
In 1970 my friends and I went to Cornwall, for an August holiday. The day we took purple haze acid. One of the boys, tried roasting chestnuts in the electric stove. He neglected to pierce them, we were all startled by the explosions. Taking them out the heat continued to explode them and there was chestnut innards, all over the kitchen. … sigh.
One thing we could purchase here, is chestnut puree. Which I did from time to time. Much more economical!
In London then, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s you could buy them at the roadside in popular markets and tourist venues. My uncle and aunt who lived upstairs, used to roast them under their coal fire. Even my Mom would, too. A wonderful nut, for sure! Cheers Jamie
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interesting 🙂
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Have you read Opher’s Declaration of Animal Rights ? He is keen to get feedback. Here’s the link – https://opherworld.wordpress.com/?s=animal+rights+charter&submit=Search
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Thanks for the link, Raili. That’s an excellent document. Naturally – me being a mouthy pain in the arse, I added a recommendation 🙂
I used to be pretty involved in animal rights issues.
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He is looking for constructive feedback and will appreciate it 🙂
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That’s what I figured 🙂
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This is so amazingly written. Followed! 🙂
I’m just starting out in poetry and blogging and it would be amazing if you could give my page a follow too!
(if you like my stuff too of course!)
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Thank you – these days this is not my usual style. I only write this way to distract myself from troubling thoughts.
You have a positive outlook and an interesting style, so I clicked your follow button 🙂
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