(x = space)

x

x

Feed the Animals

x

I wish all cats

To be adopted

And dogs

And chinchillas

Guinea pigs

Hamsters

Snakes

(not with hamsters)

And everything

That makes a pet

x

The rest returned safely

To the wild

To wild places kept safe

x

I know we eat animals

And wear parts

Of them

I guess we have to

Though there are other

Sources of protein

And for leather

So that we could live well

Without the slaughter

x

There are industries

That would have to be

Taken care of

First and well

(keeping jobs,

well, transferring

maybe

transform

if not transmogrify)

Before such universal

Change

x

But we can do that

We can do so many things

We can do this

x

We can restore so many

Things

Establish new traditions

Remembering the old

Not in chagrin

But to say

We were that

Now we are this

x

coda

x

We’d have to feed our carnivores

The large and small

The wheel turns

Maybe there are substitutes

We’d have to find out

Very carefully

And thoroughly

x

C L Couch

x

x

Photo by Javardh on Unsplash

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