The Veal crates
are man’s inhumane sickened mind
to create such a dire dirty desperate
unkind
trap really
its size so awfully small
where the calves are imprisoned
and they go up the wall
chained by the neck
they cannot turn around
they cannot sit down
they are ligature bound
in pain they have cramps
and they just have to be
soaked in their own shit
permanently
this is the men in the white coats
who say
visit your dairy
milk is the way
it might bring them riches
and a big country pad
but for calves I assure you
everything’s bad
18 short weeks and its
off to the place
where they will be slaughtered
with ugly disgrace
hung up and their throats
slit open until
all of their blood in their body
they spill
its a great crimson fountain
that spreads far and wide
when babies sweet babies
have no place to hide
Rex Tyler is a Poet, Campaigner, former owner of an organic shop of 30 years, and Public Speaker living in Berkhamsted, UK.