IT happened in July 2015

In the stormiest weather
A thirty year old
Boat plyed its way
And deep in its hold
Were animals bound for
The UAE
From Puntland Somalia
Into the sea

As the old ship went down
300o or so
camels and goats
And sheep joined the flow
Off the gulf of Aden
They all met their death
Gulping in brine
In the absence of breath

2 crew members perished
A very sad tale
This ship was in very poor condition
The trail
Of corpses found floating
Sad souls indeed
Such a terrible loss
It makeS my heart bleed

Imagine the panic
Already the trip
Without food or water,
And a final dip
Into a vast torrent
With waves mountain high
Imagine the fear
As so many did die

SOmalia’s animals
Out number us
Some 8 million goats
Sheep and camels
Discuss
The merits of shipping live
Exports away
On shoddy old vessels
What is there to say

The briefest of storms
And the creatures must die
Locked in their prisons under the sky
Swamped by the tempest
And lost to the world
As into the maelstrom
The Angels were hurled

Some say a godsend
For had the been shipped
To vile slaughterhouses
Their bodies then ripped
Their throats torn a’sunder
The pain of it all
Hung up on chains
With such torment and gall

Those who eat dead flesh
Are as guilty as hell
And all theSe dead animals
As they did swell
Up in the water lost and asleep
Surely the Angels themselves
Now must weep

Live exports on vessel
To old to sail
Is the biggest anathema
Surely we fail
As humans to stop this
We can if we try
This carnage of spirit
And all else is a lie

THey died so we may grow fatter
And die sooner