Tilly

Already its completely out of hand
For the corporates run the show
With contempt for human beings
So the animals they know
They Feel it in their marrow
Each sinew of their soul
“Tilly” who was born into this unbearable
Control

She was weak her little legs
Tied up in knots what could she do
Try to walk and just fall over
Crippled through and through
Her right leg was quite useless
So feeding was a pain
And there she was in the CAFO
Sheds for the insane

Packed into these areas
Every inch saw one
Bird trying to scramble
With everything undone
Fighting to share the acrid
Air polluted with snot and piss
This is what is happening
Which mostly consumers miss

It happened that there was a raid
And activists came by
And Tilly was spotted hunched over in pain
Which is really why
Activism is essential
Some victims can be saved
And Tilly was such a victim
For up to then she had braved

The onslaught of the others
The fitter ones who tried
To eat what food was thrown at her
And so she had been denied
Food because of her crippled state
She was not up to it, she
Was going down hill faster
Than she was supposed to be

but Tilly was a fighter
Many more before had simply
Given up the ghost
And just laid on the floor
To be trampled on and eaten
By the fly blown maggots, they
Spent a lot of time upon the floor
Where they all lay

This isn’t turkey heaven,
Its worse than Chicken Hell
Its the Corporate world of profits first
Its the hearts and minds they sell
Their bodies spent with lack of food
Their muscles weak with pain
Tilly was a victim
Going utterly insane

Picked up by an activist
Gently taken Away
With a friend called Roger
It must have Made her day
Lifted out of the cardboard box
And placed there on the grass
With the sunshine and the fresh air
It must have felt first class

But she was really feeling it
Legs splayed on the floor
She really couldn’t walk at all
And everywhere was sore
Still she was entering rehab
The gals were going to be
Loving and decidedly good
To roger and Tilly

They rigged up a sling
So as to support
Her as she tried to stand
Held her gave her exercises
Which were really grand
All that lovely patience
All that loving care
And Tilly she responded
Clearly loving being there

And gradually she got stronger
Eating well and on a high
Love was all around her
From the ground up to the sky
And when somebody loves you
Really loves you then you know
That everywhere is beautiful
And you just want to grow

Weeks went by and love and kindness
Carried on for she
Was getting stronger and realising
That one day she could be
Like all the healthy chickens
And walk out of the farm
Run about with the farm dogs
And not come to any harm

She still rocked on her two legs
She still fell on the floor
But she was going to walk again
Of that we all were sure
She rocked a bit of course one does
And no doubt some did laugh
But she was going to walk again
She didn’t do things by half

The activists who found her saved her
Thats was for sure
For by now she would have been maggot feed
Flattened out on the floor
But Tilly was a fighter too
And with love and care about
She made it to the walking stage
As we knew without a doubt

She came through the leg pulling
That can really drag you down
Its funny how the others think
It helps to go to town
On a weak bird who cant walk a lot
But this is what they do
And it happens wiTh the human breed
Sadly that is true

But the fighters keep on fighting
In ways that we can see
And Tilly now can walk like others
And does so easily
She goes outside the farm yard
And plays with the farm hound
She is grateful she was rescued
From that big shed on the ground

Its up to all of us humans to stop this
Infamy
To stop eating these corporate meals
Where only agony
Is forthcoming for the participants
The ingredients let us say
Like Tilly would have become
If she was healthier that day

Jammed packed with antibiotics
With chemicals galore
Pesticides and hormones
Some outside the law
Sickening ingredients
That forced these birds to feel
Anything but healthy
And just part of a meal

Tilly was a happy story
With a happy end
How Tilly had been rescued
With Roger her crippled friend
And how thanks to the love and care
Her life was turned around
But don’t forget the trillions
Of others now rotting in the ground