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