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A post shared by Laura ? [she/her] 28 | Berlin (@lauraklinke_art) on Jun 20, 2020 at 12:49am PDT

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.

I have intelligence, warmth,
kindness and love.
Just like you.

Yet you send me off to the slaughterhouse,
ignoring my squeals.
I am a sentient being.
Call me pig.

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.

I cherish my newborns.
Just like you.
Yet you rip my calves away from me,
deaf to their cries, blind to my tears.

You drag them to the slaughterhouse,
you take my milk-filled teats and stuff them into metal.
Milk meant for my calves,
just like you once drank from your momma’s breast.
When my milk is dry, you will put me out to pasture posting a sign,
“Used Cows for Sale.”

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.
Call me cow.

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.

I run and play, and feel joy and pain.
Just like you.
Yet you set metal traps with sharp teeth,
and let me die a painful death.
You strip my skin to make stoles, coats, and hats.
My orphaned ones will die, starved and preyed upon,
or trapped as I.

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.
Call me rabbit or fox.

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.

I swim the large bodies of ocean,
giving birth and love.
Just like you.

Yet you cast large hooks and netting,
pulling my struggling mass onto your vessel,
letting me die in the hot sun, on your deck.
Then hang me on rods when you come ashore,
taking prize photos for your friends to see and cheer.

I am a sentient being.
Just like you.
Call me tuna, sword, grouper, or dolphin.

I am a sentient being.
Are you?

~