Your Leather Had a Previous Owner (An Angry Cow Haiku)

“No skin off my back”

Well, now that you mention it

Looks good on you though...

6 Aug 2019

My Blood in Your Hands (An Angry Cow Haiku)

Waiting for my death

In a line without escape

Enjoy your fucking burger

11 Aug 2019

Waiting For the Knife

Be happy,

they tell me,

while we wait 

for the knife

Piles of food

dumped in

front of us

to fatten us

for the knife

Our children

have disappeared

They’ve already 

met the knife

Our babies’ milk

is taken from us

Until it slows,

then the knife

So many of us

packed together

in line 

for the knife

But be happy,

they tell me

while I wait

for the knife

2 Oct 2019

Chick-fil-A Can Kiss My Furry Ass

Crudely drawn,

without my consent,

holding a sign

for your advertisement

Chicken for sale,

homophobia too,

just please don’t eat

animals that moo

Don’t kill me, kill her

Chuckle? Giggle?

Offering another’s life

to gain my acquittal?!

Well, I’ve got real advice

from the mooers and cluckers,

“Eat more chickpeas,

you motherfuckers”

5 Aug 2019

Watch it performed

Not the Way We Come Out

Blood gushes from my neck

   Rib roast

   Chuck steak

   Brisket

Blood pours from my belly

   Club steak

   Rib-Eye

   Porterhouse

Blood spills from my ass

   Sirloin

   Tenderloin

   Rump roast

Blood trickles from my legs

   Meatball

   Roast Beef
   Pot roast

Blood flows from my veins

   Corned beef

   Hamburger

   Filet mignon

Blood spills everywhere

   Muscles
   Tendons

   Cartilage

Blood splatters the floor

   Skin

   Eyeballs

   Intestines

Blood drips from my heart

We go in alive,

eighteen months of age,

joined together in one piece,

But that is not the way we come out

Oct 2018

Watch it performed

Reality (An Angry Cow Haiku)

You cannot deny 

eating meat kills someone who

didn’t want to die

Feb 2019

My Suffering Was of No Concern

I know which way

I’m meant to go

But the echoes

of screams

fill my ears

and the stench

of blood

engulfs my nostrils

No one

walks that way

intentionally

Metal walls and

an electric prod

ensure

my lack

of alternatives

We’re marched

in a line

one after the next

Fear spreads around us

It's in our cries

It's on our breath

The humans around us,

seemingly oblivious

to our pain,

force us to continue

through the twists

and the turns

towards 

the terror

that lies ahead

The Grass Isn’t Greener When it is Covered With Blood

I should be happy,

I’m told

The grass, I hear,

always appears greener

somewhere else

But I don’t think

my issue is a lack

of proper perception

I’m fairly certain

the grass is indeed

greener when

your own blood

is not splattered

upon it

Then green is

no longer the color

that first comes

to mind

8 Apr 2019

It Wasn’t Humane to Start With

I looked up 

the word “humane”

in your dictionary

and, holy shit, 

you are not 

going to believe

how wonderful it sounds

“Marked by compassion,

sympathy, or consideration”

Synonyms include

benevolent, kind,

and good-hearted

I, for one,

would not want 

to miss this

Nor, I’m sure,

would you 

(even as a human)

want to miss out

on all of this kind, 

sympathetic treatment

Take my place,

just for a moment,

so you can bask

in the humanity

After Dinner Conversation

I’m not here

to make you 

comfortable

You certainly 

don’t provide that 

for me

My comfort 

is not foremost 

in your mind

I could say

I’m sorry

if my words 

force you 

to examine

the cold, shadowy

crevices of your diet

But my apologies

would be insincere

Why should I

be obliged  

to make my tormentor 

feel safe and secure,

unfettered

by the reality

you gladly consent

to keep hidden 

from your eyes?

Our families

are ripped from us,

just prior to their

being ripped apart

So, if my words

intrude into

the comfort

of your slowly 

digesting meal,

the inconvenience

is inconsequential

compared to

being the one 

you are presently

digesting

5 Feb 2019

Motherhood (A Cow Haiku)

Being a mother

is watching your newborn pulled

forever away

Feb 2019

What Exactly Did You Think Old MacDonald Did With Those Cows?

Old MacDonald

killed my family

E-I-E-I-Fuck you

That song’s 

not so happy

from my point of view

8 Feb 2019

Against the Clock

I have one 

lone minute

to persuade you

not to kill me

Talk about racing

the time clock

My life 

literally 

hanging

in the delicate

balance

between

your fleeting 

concern for

my well-being

and the way

your mouth

salivates

when a 

faint whiff of

my grilled, 

dismembered flesh 

finds its way into 

your sharply

protruding nose

So Much Happiness It Kills You

Happy cows

from happy farms

where the sun always shines

on happy red barns

With happy castration,

how we frolic away

while elastic bands 

squeeze our nuts

waiting for eventual decay

Of the loud cheers of delight,

I hereby forewarn,

as they burn through our flesh

to cauterize our horns

It makes us so happy,

I truly must say,

when they dock off our tails,

they were just in the way

But nothing compares

to the pride in our eyes

as they take from us our babies

under those beautiful blue skies

This gleeful celebration,

like all things must close;

the farmers smile and wave

as they slice off our nose

and our skins and our bones,

oh, our blood it does pour,

our happiness is scattered

in a pile on the floor

A glorious end

to our jovial lives

when we happy cows

meet even happier knives

15 Dec 2018

   

Behind Your Order

I know,

you don’t think of it

as harming me,

you don’t think 

of me at all

You don’t have

to look me

in the eyes

You often don’t 

have to look

anyone in the eyes

“A cheeseburger 

with fries,”

you tell the

electronic machine, 

after someone you

can’t see says,

“May I take your

order please?”

Wrapped in a bun,

with lettuce on top,

and passed to you

through the next 

window up

I’m a sandwich to you

I never cross your mind

You don’t wonder 

for one moment

about the life 

behind my eyes

You’ve made it so easy

to not have to care,

to keep hidden 

from your eyes

your discomfort,

our despair

So you chomp

on my body

without even

one thought

about the life 

that you take

when your order

comes up

15 Dec 2018

Defending Your Taste Buds

What kind of society 

do we live in

where caring about 

someone else’s agony -

I mean, enough to actually

try to stop causing it –

is considered radical,

weird, laughable?

Where it is more

common to dismiss

someone’s pain

as unimportant

than it is to 

change our habits

“Meat is delicious,”

they reply 

with an entitled smile 

“But bacon,”

they giggle,

and make into

memes to easily 

thwart off

ridiculous thoughts 

of eating plants 

instead

Our lives reduced 

in an instant

to a joke,

a laugh, 

an absurdity 

to even contemplate 

accommodating 

someone else’s 

desire to live 

while they sit down 

with a knife and a fork

to further separate

the already disassembled 

remains of a life

A life they ignore

until their teeth part

and their jaws close

and their throats swallow

The enjoyment 

of this bite

disappearing 

in seconds,

while our lives

simply

disappear

27 Jan 2019