Reasons

Originally published in Common Root 'Zine #5 in August 2013.

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It is done out of concern

For the only body I'll ever have.

As I advance in age,

As the years move in quickened pace,

What goes in

Must not have anti-biotic, bacteriological, hormonal

Taint.

What goes in 

Must not act as a virus, throwing

My own structure toward the edge of collapse.

There are thousands of disposal sites for chemical waste

And my body's not one.

It is done out of concern

For what my pockets possess.

It is cheaper

To create a

Succulent meal where

Plants and grains are centrepieces than to

Clutch knife and fork to

Cut and pierce tender, moist slices from

Something expensive that once had a face.

There's millions of burial sites for the dead

And my body's not one.

It is done out of consideration

For the animals.

My lips and teeth, cautionary 

Abstinence from the by-products of mass extinction.

Single-file line, heads of cattle

Cross abattoir gates, disassembly lines ahead.

Entire ocean families caught in

A fisher's net. There's

A cannery, a scaling knife, beds of ice

In their future.

At the ranch, chicken body

Struggles in the hands of its butcher.

Throat is slit, bird is beheaded.

Feathers go next. Then eggs are taken. 

All have no rest after death but in the

Clean market aisle.

There's millions of people buying wrapped cadavers for dinner

And I'm not one.

By Dee Allen.

From: United States

Website: https://www.nomadicpress.org