Broken
By Heather Leughmyer
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

Broken
By Heather Leughmyer

Cages encompass both body and mind

Searching for freedom that they’ll never find

Crated like cargo and shipped just like slaves

Money is murder and stomachs, their graves.

There are those who are broken, whose gentle hearts bleed

Feeling helpless and hopeless in the face of pure greed

Sensing their suffering, bearing their pain

Perpetual sadness for corporate gain.

If only others could see through compassionate eyes

The horror, the hurting, the desperate cries

If they could experience this continuous ache

If only their hearts could crumble and break.

If the world could embrace every breath, every being

Not just shallowly looking, but authentically seeing

Their beauty, their purpose, their desire to live

Instead of taking and wasting, they wanted to give.

Cages would be vacant, void of despair

A huge weight would be lifted off those hearts that care

The broken would heal, the innocents freed

And kindness prevail over violence and greed.