A Chinese supermarket in California

Mutilation isn’t pretty
its sordid and its wrong
because the voiceless cannot scream
they suffer all along
here we see a turtle
lifting its head in grief
its body mutilated
its pain beyond belief
so because it is a reptile
its thought to have no pain
look into its eyes my friends
look at its deep strain
its hopes are clearly evident
as we witness its agony
and all around it
what is it now the world can see
its eggs its fleshy organs
and blood and extended gore
this is a living breathing soul
on display no more
should creature suffer
the sinful vile display
of having its organs bared alive
its extraordinary to pay
so high a price for life on earth
the evilness of man
its really hard to contain myself
why there’s no all out ban
why there is no inspection
why we do what we do
and let a creature suffer so
the hatred that it drew
out of me and I am just
a poet looking on
look at those eyes
that sick surprise
until of course it was gone
onto a higher plain somewhere
to think about the way
those Chinese grocers dispatched it
and the price it had to pay

I rest my heart a moment
its hard to witness this
a supermarket in California
and so so many miss
the brutality of retail
the evil that is there
the agony of that departing soul
and the very few who care