From All-Creatures.org

Animal Rights Poetry and Prose By Heidi Coon

Poems of compassion dedicated to the non-human animals who share this planet with us and the people who fight for them.

Horslavery
By Heidi Coon

Carriage horse trade
Living beings bought & paid
Customers crave
being pulled by a slave
Much money made
The industry portrayed
As an honest trade
…falsehoods propagate
Ornate harness-feather plume charade
Colorful, decorated carriages dissuade
Cruel masquerade
Please, don’t be swayed
It’s a slave parade
Carriage rider
Slave driver
Slave maker
Slave labor
To their masters
Horse lives don’t matter
It’s money…the factor
& proven after disaster
Horses ain’t ‘retired’ to pasture
Nope, they’re sent to slaughter
..by those bastards
Slave driver power
Thumb licking, dollar bill counter
Tourist & ‘sucker’ prowler
The horses toil, hour after hour
Plodding in traffic during rush hour
The horse is their property
The horse has no liberty
They live in misery
Forced to work through injury
The carriage ride ‘novelty’
Horses broken life of drudgery
Obedient
Object
Abject
Servant
Helpless horse in the carriage market
Slave driver, money monger merchant
‘It’s not cruelty!’ They chant
‘You hate horses!’ They rant
[not this dissident]
They’re pro slavery participants
Implicit in
…accidents & incidents….
Ignorance is on their side
‘Horses are partners!’ They chide
They’re NOT unified
Horses tethered, tied
Time you realize
Slavers capitalize
Ergo, they’re NOT qualified
To testify
On behalf of a being they objectify
Commodify
Carriage ride after carriage ride
Love of money over horses lives
Slavers lie
Tourists ride
Horses die
Carriage rides antiquated
Don’t be captivated
By horses decorated
Remember? ….slavery is hated
….not debated 

©Heidi Coon, 2021

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