Enlightenment

Whether we are unenlightened
Or our knowledge was curtailed
We probably were guilty
And feel now that we failed
The ivory we once bought
The leather we once wore
Perhaps we were malicious
Perhaps we did ignore
The obvious its possible
But unlikely for then we
Thought more of celebration
Than where the ivory

Came from or the leather
Take the ivory
There are people in China
Who really didn’t see
an elephant ever
And if they had
They certainly would refuse
To buy a product made from
Such a creature
So awareness means we never would
abuse

Leather did we know what it was really
Did we realise a cow must die
Breaking up a family and destroying a life
For another pair of shoes
Was that some lie

Then one day we realised our error
The terror of it surfaced in our soul
We took those tragic pieces to a tranquil place
And buried them trying to console
Ourselves for ignorance was then the culprit
And why were we so ignorant pray tell
The majority of people know and choose to
Continue down the path
But you my dear you realised you’d fell

Foul of those sweet animals and made amends
You would not ever harm those souls again
Those soulful things you buried in your garden
And in your heart you feel their lasting pain
Enlightenment is the measure of our freedom
We must not beat ourselves up now ere again
All we can do is live our lives more lightly
And realise each earthling has great worth
And enlighten others to the abject cruelty
Happening on this place we all call Earth