Literary Vegan

Have you seen a cow fight its way back out  Of the slaughter line that won't let her leave?  Or that same gentle beauty hung heavy by the leg  On a chain, like a felled brute beast? Have you seen pigs held down to suffocate, screaming, Squealing in choking chambers? Or how pigs can play, train and answer like dogs, Yet they still don't receive the same treatment? Have you seen the alarm in the eyes of a bird  Facing stun by electrified water?  Or the injustice when innocent chicks are poured down  Into death by an industrial grinder? These animals fear every step of the way and  You refuse, you refuse to acknowledge  That we are the cause - 'free range' label or not -  Unless we have mercy and stop this. Do not buy packages produced by pain or  Turn your back on these creatures who trust. We have a choice and compassion's its name,  Let peace in their kingdom start with us. Copyright LJ Ir...

My voice is worn From screaming SHOUTING About what happens to you -  But my words roll off their shoulders Like raindrops And my echo sits in the puddles They step in Forgetting  What I said -  Like your your pleading eyes Mean nothing to them,  Or don't exist Behind humane labels And all the paper notes That pay to wash your blood away. Im haunted by your frightened face Longing to be saved, Not deserving pain in return And I cry with shame - Because what more can I say  If they don't want to learn. Copyright LJ Ireton 2019

I hold myself Still  As my own body  Pauses My mind opens Emotion trickles  Out  I let this  Moment Halt Momentum As the world rarely does. Copyright LJ Ireton 2018

It's peaceful indoors And the kitchen is warm Forgotten - the noise And the fear and the harm That put the animal on the feasting table  Can you celebrate peace When your food wasn't able  To know the same? Far away is the pain Of the face Now removed Now replaced With a plate. Could our placemats be kindness To the creatures that trust us Can our hands spare the bloodshed  We don't see before us. Copyright LJ Ireton  

Inquisitive eyes Playful feet Torn apart Labelled 'Meat' Life not enough  Without death Doing as was done  Dimming consciousness Of living  Eating life with ease Inquisitive eyes  Playful feet Copyright LJ Ireton 

Sanctuary Small, smiling sleepers Worn out from chasing apples Sleep in safety, resting on their mother. My heart is in that straw That the piglets snuggle into A blanket of peace Unlike the others. I’m so happy for a moment But it shouldn’t be momentary Peace should not be isolated, Should not be secondary To suffering as standard, Substandard living – Please give the others Sanctuary. Copyright LJ Ireton 2018

No living being Should be objectified by A living being