WHERNTO: notions
Let us give a gift to the world,
a gift of joy and boundless peace.
Just for a moment,
let us see through the eyes
of those, so much weaker than us,
who suffer:
An infant prisoner, the veal calf,
crying in darkness for the mother
he has never known,
her milk collected for "higher" appetites.
The egg-layer huddling painfully
in cramped confinement, destined never
to know the joy of sheltering chicks
beneath her strong wings.
The suckling foal, force-weaned
and sold at auction
for his flesh - a number,
not a life.
Let us hear, just for a moment
the piercing screams of the doomed,
muffled by slaughterhouse walls
and hidden from human conscience.
It doesn't have to be this way.
But by what means, we ask,
shall the agony cease, and
peace prevail in all the world?
Let us start
by lighting a candle for mercy
in our own lives, illuminating
a small piece of darkness.
Let us not turn away
from the cries of those who need us,
nor give in to tradition, industry, or false doctrines.
Fear not what is right.
Let us live peacefully
in all ways, choosing
compassion over indifference,
empathy over violence.
Then, let us reach into the darkness
to help light the candles of others … for all life.