The Dominion of Man
By Glynda L. Marcus
An Animal Rights Poem from All-Creatures.org

All of God's creatures have rights, a fact that most people don't seem to recognize. This includes both human and non-human animals, but not all of them can speak for themselves.

The Dominion of Man
By Glynda L. Marcus

Can you hear them?
Can you hear the caged cats crying,
Hear the netted dolphins' scream in dying,
Hear the scientists that are lying?
Can you hear them?

Can you see them?
When you close your eyes to pray,
Do images seem to stay
Of pigs' skin being burned away,
And goats shot by the Army each day?
Can you see them?

Can you smell them?
The puppies held in filthy pens,
The tuskless elephants left in the dust by men,
The slaughter house floor where once life had been?
Can you smell them?

Can you feel them?
When you touch your new coat of fox,
Can you feel the trap snap shut and lock?
When you pour the cleanser from the box,
Do you feel the singed eyes of the rabbit in the stock?
Can you feel them?

Can you imagine
What humans do to creatures every day,
The needless pain with which the helpless pay,
For a line in a book of God that some say,
Gives man the right to do whatever he may?
Can you imagine?

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