Animal
Rights
Online
Animal
Rights
Online

Poetry

Dumb Bird
Author Unknown

A brain can't save a powerless bird
whose name conjures food when spoken the word.
Her nature leads her to peck and take wing
But there's no room for instinct.
This life is no living.

With six in a cage, what bird needs a brain?
Inside the warehouses are endless chains
of small metal boxes with wire mesh floors.
Eroded feathers reveal scratches and sores.

No reason to cluck, no pride with no beak.
No social order, no reason to speak.
Eyes blinded by ammonia from droppings below.
One bird out of six, collapsed, must go.
Yanked from the cage and thrown to the floor.
While these birds are swept up, the factory makes more.

One particular bird on this particular day
is a snapshot you can take away,
of a bird that has been cloned and restrained
His right to life stolen for a greedy man's gain.

As you live your life, carefree,
smart creatures live as commodities.
"Not smart enough," an excuse you've learned
to slyly shroud your past concern.

Too bad that brains can't save these birds.
It seems as though they have been cursed
because there's a functioning brain in their heads
that doesn't redeem them,
but leaves them tortured instead.

Return to Poetry

** Fair Use Notice**
This document may contain copyrighted material, use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. I believe that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

Home Page

Newsletters

Poetry

Quotations

Your comments and inquiries are welcome

This site is hosted and maintained by:
The Mary T. and Frank L. Hoffman Family Foundation
Thank you for visiting all-creatures.org.


Since date.gif (991 bytes)