Point of View (by the late Shel Silverstein) and other poetry (deserving musical accompaniment?)

[Guest guest]

Could anyone put these or any of the other poems on this site to music?

 

http://www.geocities.com/wantnomeat/poems.html

 

Point of View

 

By Shel Silverstein

Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless

Christmas dinner's dark and blue

When you stop and try to see it

From the turkey's point of view.

Sunday dinner isn't sunny

Easter feasts are just bad luck

When you see it from the viewpoint

Of a chicken or a duck.

Oh how I once loved tuna salad

Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too

Till I stopped and looked at dinner

From the dinner's point of view.

A Prayer For Animlals

By Albert Schweitzer

 

" Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends

the Animals, especially for animals who are suffering ;

for animals that are over-worked, under-fed and cruelly

treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat

their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or

destroyed or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to

death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and

for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion

and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be

true friends; to animals and so to share the blessings of

the merciful. "

Let's Not Forget

Unknown Author

 

 

Your " meat " comes from a creature who has met

A hideous and most untimely death

Nor is it seemly when upon your dish

Lie corpses of a murdered bird or fish.

One fleeting glimpse of any factory farm

Would make the vilest soul cry in alarm.

The chickens, cows and pigs - their lives obscene

Degraded to meat, milk and egg machines.

The cows, their fate sealed at the slaughter house,

Can hear their friends in front of them cry out.

If we pretend that of this they know not,

We grossly underestimate their lot.

The chickens, five crammed tightly to a cage

Oft peck their mates in frightened fits of rage.

The light which blinds these creatures night and day

Adds sin and cruelty to each egg they lay.

The male chicks not appealing to our taste,

Are tossed alive in bags to our great haste.

This writhing heap of bodies is no lie.

Eventually, they suffocate and die.

To better understand a dairy cow

Try picturing this horrid scene somehow:

You're pumped with drugs, you're pregnant and you hurt.

And then your child is robbed from you at birth.

She is no mere automaton, I say.

She mourns the loss of her child several days.

The farmers steal your milk from you and then

For profit's sake, they knock you up again.

The child, a girl will share her mother's fate

If he's a boy, he's off to the veal crate -

A squalid, filthy stall not two feet wide.

He ne'er sees light and cannot turn inside.

A pig's life is the cruellest life around.

The female lies immobile on the ground.

The males can sexually enter her at will.

Her infants suck her nipples through a grill.

Since they've no space, insanity prevails.

And normally, they'd bite each others tails.

For farmers, this would cause a profit drain.

So tails are yanked at birth with squeals of pain.

The more we hide from these injustices

The less we find we know what justice is.

We spare our cats and dogs from such " misuse " ,

So why allow the other cruel abuse?

These are no more automatons, I say.

They're feeling creatures tortured night and day.

By people who in numbness feel no more,

For use by us who in our haste, ignore!

Here is a cause that rests on naught but us

And though at first we kick and scream and fuss,

We find in time a wholeness that will last

Despite the horrors of our actions past.

Those of religion, here's a truth today.

In front of you. It will not go away.

This is your trial; if you should shut it out.

Then, say, what is religion all about?

Isn't Man An Amazing Animal

He kills wildlife - birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes, beavers,

groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes - by the million in order to protect his

domestic animals and their feed.

Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them.

This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals leads to

degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease, kidney disease,

and cancer.

 

So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for these

diseases.

Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and

malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic

animals.

Meanwhile, some are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who kills so

easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying for

" Peace on Earth. "

What's in a name?

by Peter D. Wilson

 

In the name of progress

Jews were ejected from their homes and exterminated

Africans were stolen from their homeland and enslaved

Native Americans were pushed off their land and massacred

In the name of conservation

Feral animals are ejected from their homes and exterminated

Endangered species are stolen from their homeland and enslaved

Predators are pushed off the land and massacred

In the name of freedom

Dissenters were beaten into submission

Japanese Americans were imprisoned in concentration camps

Soldiers were trained to kill on command

In the name of entertainment

Orangs and elephants are beaten into submission

Dolphins and seals are imprisoned in sea aquariums

Dogs and roosters are taught to lust for blood

In the name of religion

Witches were burned at the stake

Infidels were tortured on the rack

Virgins were sacrificed on the altar

In the name of science

The bodies of pigs are inflicted with severe burns

The eyes of rabbits are filled with caustic chemicals

The eyelids of newborn monkeys are sewn shut

In the name of arrogance

Humans have put their desires over the needs of others

Crimes of cruelty have been perpetrated ad nauseum

Suffering has been inflicted against human and animal, alike

Recognize Me

By Cheryl Greear

 

For I am you--whether winged or furry or water bound-I live and die, just as do

you. I see you because you can look at me as well and see that my blood runs

through my body; a body given by the creator, just as yours was given to you.

You live as you choose and make your rules to suit your existence--yet your

rules do not protect me, for I can not speak to protect my kind and our rights.

Therefore, I do not live; I merely exist, because unlike you, I have no choice.

I hear you because you can hear me; yet you choose not to hear my need for

compassion to live as my creator intended; just as do you. Your home is my home;

yet you take mine away because you see my existence as trivial; however, in as

much, you destroy your home as well for pleasures sake. My legs were made to

roam, my wings to soar, my feet however diverse were made to walk this earth.

Our laws were given by nature which we respect to the fullest for herein lies

our survival. You do not respect the laws of nature--you punish her with your

own laws which are born from greed and selfishness against your own environment

and your own kind.. Stop...for a moment and see our existence--for in doing so

you would learn the true meaning of being alive--untainted and innocent, we

survive on instincts alone that you have thrown away. Stop...and listen to the

voiceless....Stop and look at me. Do you not yet recognize me.......for I am

you. You are my voice.

God, Are You Real?

Author Unknown

 

The child whispered, " God, speak to me "

And a meadowlark sang.

The child did not hear.

So the child yelled, " God, speak to me! "

And the thunder rolled across the sky

But the child did not listen.

The child looked around and said,

" God let me see you " and a star shone brightly

But the child did not notice

And the child shouted,

" God show me a miracle! "

And a life was born but the child did not know.

So the child cried out in despair,

" Touch me God, and let me know you are here! "

Whereupon God reached down

And touched the child.

But the child brushed the butterfly away

And walked away unknowingly.

Tell Me What It's Like

By Loren Hull, 14 Years old, Australia

 

Here I am, I am a lab rat. I don't get peas or corn to eat. I get the dried up

processed stuff that no rat would ever want.

The scientists state that they must hurt me. Its for the benefit of the world.

They must hurt a Sensitive, intelligent animal for the world. They painted me

pink to see if I would go crazy. They took my blood to see if I could still

stand up. They burnt me to see if I could still squeak.

That's the Start If you think this is horrid, this is only the start.

In my life I have never seen sunlight. I thought it was the stuff they switched

on and off. I have never seen a blade of grass. I dream of the green hills that

will one day come to me. I will forever dream of green hills, but all I can do

is dream in my relentless part of the world.

A huge brown rat, they put him into the cage with me. He only had one eye, the

other was burnt out with the acid by those slayers in the white coats. I said to

him " So tell me, what's it's like out there in the real world? " He told me there

was radiating sun and green parks that went on forever. I thought of those

things. These are the things that people take for granted. Imagine what it would

be like. No sunlight, no grass, no happiness, only pain.

I awoke the next day into a nightmare. All nightmares into one. They put my into

a cage and poked and prodded me, it's for the well being of the world. I seem to

fail to understand why they must hurt and kill millions upon millions of animals

a year. Why?

I cried for days on end, my cries going unheeded by those cowards in the white

coats. My pain ate away at me, as if I were to eat away a piece of soy cheese.

The pain was agonizing. They put me into a cage where there was no light at all.

My skin turned pale and my eyesight failed, I still cried.

But all I got this time was " SHUT UP YOU STUPID RAT!! " That was the best they

could do.

They did all this for the world, they hurt me.

Why must they paint me pink, why must they take my blood, why must they

continuously hurt me? There is no answer, for all this pain that I go through is

not needed. This is a nightmare, all nightmares into one and you remember that

for me, will you?

I have never seen sunlight, I have never seen grass, I have never tasted peas or

corn. I was born in a cold, lifeless cage, so I must die in a cold lifeless

cage. So here I am living a nightmare.

When you wake to a morning full of sunlight, think of me.

When you walk through a green park, think of me.

When you eat your dinner that has peas and corn, think of me.

I am not the only suffering rat.............. There are millions.

Do It Anyway

By: Mother Theresa

 

People are often unreasonable, illogical,

And self-centered;

Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you

Of selfish, ulterior motives;

Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some

False friends and some true enemies;

Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank;

People may cheat you;

Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building,

someone could destroy overnight;

Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,

they may be jealous;

Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,

people will often forget tomorrow;

Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,

and it may never be enough;

Give the world the best you've got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis

it is between you and God

It was never between you and them anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now

 

 

[Guest guest]

Thanks for posting this.

~*~Mitzi

Mommy to Haley 3/00

***************************************

" People always call it luck

when you've acted more sensibly

than they have. " ----Anne Tyler

***************************************

-

" Maynard S. Clark " <MaynardClark

<Vegetarian-Poems (AT) Groups (DOT) com>;

<Building-Vegetarian-Culture (AT) Groups (DOT) com>; <VC

Monday, November 25, 2002 8:01 AM

Point of View (by the late Shel Silverstein) and other

poetry (deserving musical accompaniment?)

 

 

> Could anyone put these or any of the other poems on this site to music?

>

> http://www.geocities.com/wantnomeat/poems.html

>

> Point of View

>

> By Shel Silverstein

> Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless

> Christmas dinner's dark and blue

> When you stop and try to see it

> From the turkey's point of view.

> Sunday dinner isn't sunny

> Easter feasts are just bad luck

> When you see it from the viewpoint

> Of a chicken or a duck.

> Oh how I once loved tuna salad

> Pork and lobsters, lamb chops too

> Till I stopped and looked at dinner

> From the dinner's point of view.

> A Prayer For Animlals

> By Albert Schweitzer

>

> " Hear our humble prayer, O God, for our friends

> the Animals, especially for animals who are suffering ;

> for animals that are over-worked, under-fed and cruelly

> treated; for all wistful creatures in captivity that beat

> their wings against bars; for any that are hunted or lost or

> destroyed or frightened or hungry; for all that must be put to

> death. We entreat for them all Thy mercy and pity, and

> for those who deal with them we ask a heart of compassion

> and gentle hands and kindly words. Make us, ourselves, to be

> true friends; to animals and so to share the blessings of

> the merciful. "

> Let's Not Forget

> Unknown Author

>

>

> Your " meat " comes from a creature who has met

> A hideous and most untimely death

> Nor is it seemly when upon your dish

> Lie corpses of a murdered bird or fish.

> One fleeting glimpse of any factory farm

> Would make the vilest soul cry in alarm.

> The chickens, cows and pigs - their lives obscene

> Degraded to meat, milk and egg machines.

> The cows, their fate sealed at the slaughter house,

> Can hear their friends in front of them cry out.

> If we pretend that of this they know not,

> We grossly underestimate their lot.

> The chickens, five crammed tightly to a cage

> Oft peck their mates in frightened fits of rage.

> The light which blinds these creatures night and day

> Adds sin and cruelty to each egg they lay.

> The male chicks not appealing to our taste,

> Are tossed alive in bags to our great haste.

> This writhing heap of bodies is no lie.

> Eventually, they suffocate and die.

> To better understand a dairy cow

> Try picturing this horrid scene somehow:

> You're pumped with drugs, you're pregnant and you hurt.

> And then your child is robbed from you at birth.

> She is no mere automaton, I say.

> She mourns the loss of her child several days.

> The farmers steal your milk from you and then

> For profit's sake, they knock you up again.

> The child, a girl will share her mother's fate

> If he's a boy, he's off to the veal crate -

> A squalid, filthy stall not two feet wide.

> He ne'er sees light and cannot turn inside.

> A pig's life is the cruellest life around.

> The female lies immobile on the ground.

> The males can sexually enter her at will.

> Her infants suck her nipples through a grill.

> Since they've no space, insanity prevails.

> And normally, they'd bite each others tails.

> For farmers, this would cause a profit drain.

> So tails are yanked at birth with squeals of pain.

> The more we hide from these injustices

> The less we find we know what justice is.

> We spare our cats and dogs from such " misuse " ,

> So why allow the other cruel abuse?

> These are no more automatons, I say.

> They're feeling creatures tortured night and day.

> By people who in numbness feel no more,

> For use by us who in our haste, ignore!

> Here is a cause that rests on naught but us

> And though at first we kick and scream and fuss,

> We find in time a wholeness that will last

> Despite the horrors of our actions past.

> Those of religion, here's a truth today.

> In front of you. It will not go away.

> This is your trial; if you should shut it out.

> Then, say, what is religion all about?

> Isn't Man An Amazing Animal

> He kills wildlife - birds, kangaroos, deer, all kinds of cats, coyotes,

beavers, groundhogs, mice, foxes, and dingoes - by the million in order to

protect his domestic animals and their feed.

> Then he kills domestic animals by the billion and eats them.

> This in turn kills man by the million, because eating all those animals

leads to degenerative - and fatal - health conditions like heart disease,

kidney disease, and cancer.

>

> So then man tortures and kills millions more animals to look for cures for

these diseases.

> Elsewhere, millions of other human beings are being killed by hunger and

malnutrition because food they could eat is being used to fatten domestic

animals.

> Meanwhile, some are dying of sad laughter at the absurdity of man, who

kills so easily and so violently, and once a year sends out cards praying

for

> " Peace on Earth. "

> What's in a name?

> by Peter D. Wilson

>

> In the name of progress

> Jews were ejected from their homes and exterminated

> Africans were stolen from their homeland and enslaved

> Native Americans were pushed off their land and massacred

> In the name of conservation

> Feral animals are ejected from their homes and exterminated

> Endangered species are stolen from their homeland and enslaved

> Predators are pushed off the land and massacred

> In the name of freedom

> Dissenters were beaten into submission

> Japanese Americans were imprisoned in concentration camps

> Soldiers were trained to kill on command

> In the name of entertainment

> Orangs and elephants are beaten into submission

> Dolphins and seals are imprisoned in sea aquariums

> Dogs and roosters are taught to lust for blood

> In the name of religion

> Witches were burned at the stake

> Infidels were tortured on the rack

> Virgins were sacrificed on the altar

> In the name of science

> The bodies of pigs are inflicted with severe burns

> The eyes of rabbits are filled with caustic chemicals

> The eyelids of newborn monkeys are sewn shut

> In the name of arrogance

> Humans have put their desires over the needs of others

> Crimes of cruelty have been perpetrated ad nauseum

> Suffering has been inflicted against human and animal, alike

> Recognize Me

> By Cheryl Greear

>

> For I am you--whether winged or furry or water bound-I live and die, just

as do you. I see you because you can look at me as well and see that my

blood runs through my body; a body given by the creator, just as yours was

given to you. You live as you choose and make your rules to suit your

existence--yet your rules do not protect me, for I can not speak to protect

my kind and our rights. Therefore, I do not live; I merely exist, because

unlike you, I have no choice. I hear you because you can hear me; yet you

choose not to hear my need for compassion to live as my creator intended;

just as do you. Your home is my home; yet you take mine away because you see

my existence as trivial; however, in as much, you destroy your home as well

for pleasures sake. My legs were made to roam, my wings to soar, my feet

however diverse were made to walk this earth. Our laws were given by nature

which we respect to the fullest for herein lies our survival. You do not

respect the laws of nature--you punish her with your own laws which are born

from greed and selfishness against your own environment and your own kind..

Stop...for a moment and see our existence--for in doing so you would learn

the true meaning of being alive--untainted and innocent, we survive on

instincts alone that you have thrown away. Stop...and listen to the

voiceless....Stop and look at me. Do you not yet recognize me.......for I am

you. You are my voice.

> God, Are You Real?

> Author Unknown

>

> The child whispered, " God, speak to me "

> And a meadowlark sang.

> The child did not hear.

> So the child yelled, " God, speak to me! "

> And the thunder rolled across the sky

> But the child did not listen.

> The child looked around and said,

> " God let me see you " and a star shone brightly

> But the child did not notice

> And the child shouted,

> " God show me a miracle! "

> And a life was born but the child did not know.

> So the child cried out in despair,

> " Touch me God, and let me know you are here! "

> Whereupon God reached down

> And touched the child.

> But the child brushed the butterfly away

> And walked away unknowingly.

> Tell Me What It's Like

> By Loren Hull, 14 Years old, Australia

>

> Here I am, I am a lab rat. I don't get peas or corn to eat. I get the

dried up processed stuff that no rat would ever want.

> The scientists state that they must hurt me. Its for the benefit of the

world. They must hurt a Sensitive, intelligent animal for the world. They

painted me pink to see if I would go crazy. They took my blood to see if I

could still stand up. They burnt me to see if I could still squeak.

> That's the Start If you think this is horrid, this is only the start.

> In my life I have never seen sunlight. I thought it was the stuff they

switched on and off. I have never seen a blade of grass. I dream of the

green hills that will one day come to me. I will forever dream of green

hills, but all I can do is dream in my relentless part of the world.

> A huge brown rat, they put him into the cage with me. He only had one eye,

the other was burnt out with the acid by those slayers in the white coats. I

said to him " So tell me, what's it's like out there in the real world? " He

told me there was radiating sun and green parks that went on forever. I

thought of those things. These are the things that people take for granted.

Imagine what it would be like. No sunlight, no grass, no happiness, only

pain.

> I awoke the next day into a nightmare. All nightmares into one. They put

my into a cage and poked and prodded me, it's for the well being of the

world. I seem to fail to understand why they must hurt and kill millions

upon millions of animals a year. Why?

> I cried for days on end, my cries going unheeded by those cowards in the

white coats. My pain ate away at me, as if I were to eat away a piece of soy

cheese. The pain was agonizing. They put me into a cage where there was no

light at all. My skin turned pale and my eyesight failed, I still cried.

> But all I got this time was " SHUT UP YOU STUPID RAT!! " That was the best

they could do.

> They did all this for the world, they hurt me.

> Why must they paint me pink, why must they take my blood, why must they

continuously hurt me? There is no answer, for all this pain that I go

through is not needed. This is a nightmare, all nightmares into one and you

remember that for me, will you?

> I have never seen sunlight, I have never seen grass, I have never tasted

peas or corn. I was born in a cold, lifeless cage, so I must die in a cold

lifeless cage. So here I am living a nightmare.

> When you wake to a morning full of sunlight, think of me.

> When you walk through a green park, think of me.

> When you eat your dinner that has peas and corn, think of me.

> I am not the only suffering rat.............. There are millions.

> Do It Anyway

> By: Mother Theresa

>

> People are often unreasonable, illogical,

> And self-centered;

> Forgive them anyway.

> If you are kind, people may accuse you

> Of selfish, ulterior motives;

> Be kind anyway.

> If you are successful, you will win some

> False friends and some true enemies;

> Succeed anyway.

> If you are honest and frank;

> People may cheat you;

> Be honest and frank anyway.

> What you spend years building,

> someone could destroy overnight;

> Build anyway.

> If you find serenity and happiness,

> they may be jealous;

> Be happy anyway.

> The good you do today,

> people will often forget tomorrow;

> Do good anyway.

> Give the world the best you have,

> and it may never be enough;

> Give the world the best you've got anyway.

> You see, in the final analysis

> it is between you and God

> It was never between you and them anyway.

>

>

>

>

>

> Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now

>

>