As Close As It Gets
Poetry by Lance Landall
A Spiritual And Inspirational Poem from All-Creatures.org

Imagine a body shop with human flesh on display, And where, “I’ll have a kilo of rump,” the customers say. A shop where certain body parts are hanging from cruel hooks, Or laid out in trays, and titivated, to attract looks.

Yes, the flesh of men and women, and little children too, Arms and legs, hands and feet, and ribs marked, “Suitable for stew.” And almost entire bodies, skinned and disemboweled torsos, Human steaks; or sausages, made up of tongues, ears, and toes.

Sounds dreadful, I’m sure — but in a sense, such is what we see When we pass each butcher’s shop, and their grizzly artistry. There’s that slimy blood too, soiling those empty trays, (grossly), That fingers pointed to earlier — ghoulishly, surely.

Why eat flesh, when there are vegetables, fruit, nuts and grains? Why eat some creatures entrails, livers, kidneys, even brains? Given there’s not a lot of difference between them and us Isn’t it time we acted more civilized, less barbarous?

Yes, it’s one step away from cannibalism — that close.