They don’t live in the real world
\nThese temple people they
\nMany live on handouts
\nAll along the way
\nIn many ways they are ignorant
\nAnd spiteful we can see
\nThe way they treat the animals
\nIs not how it should be<\/p>\n
They are hurtful and hard bitten
\nAbove the law maybe
\nLaws that are not policed that well
\nReally thats the key
\nAnd elephants are neglected
\nIll treated one can see
\nThey are used for temple celebrations
\nBut are treated terribly<\/p>\n
This Guruvyur Temple
\nIts not Kerala’s charm
\nThe 82 year old Padmanabhan
\nReally they chance their arm
\nAgainst a real old veteran
\nMade to lift his trunk
\nBy beating him with a bull hook
\nThe hook is clearly sunk<\/p>\n
Into his tired old skin it goes
\nAnd blood seeps from the gash
\nSo many hooking cuts he suffers
\nEvery single bash
\nReminds him of the suffering
\nAccumulatively, he
\nHas to take for all their sake
\nAnd just how cruel they be<\/p>\n
Holy men whose meditation
\nTakes them far away
\nSo far from reality
\nAnd care to where some pay
\nThe piper for the pleasure
\nOf just being alive
\nBeaten with ferocity
\nAs spitefully they strive<\/p>\n
To walk down the tarred roadway
\nThe injuries are there
\nBloody gashes on their legs
\nAnd trunks the mahouts dare
\nTo do this and to expect the elephants
\nTo perform as well
\nFed badly beaten madly
\nIts as if they are in Hell<\/p>\n
recently another elephant did die
\nFrom lack of food and appropriate care
\nWe can ask now why
\n5 elephants held captive
\nIn Mandya Kamataka
\nThe rescue failed apparently
\nOnce again a marker<\/p>\n
Put up to the universe
\nViolations there
\nThe Temple people
\nLive in cuckoo land
\nWhere such despair
\nIs commonplace and the animals
\nAre neglected all the while
\nIts wrong to hit them with these hooks
\nBut they continue to defile<\/p>\n
These veterans these grand old souls
\nAnd of course it isn’t fair
\nAll their lives they have struggled
\nAnd been chained up so aware
\nOf the life they could have led out in the forest
\nAround a bout
\nBut instead were brought to temples
\nAnd fed with so much doubt<\/p>\n
Beaten lashed and broken
\nFrom babies until now
\nhumanity and depravity
\nWe have to ask now how
\nSo called temple people
\nVenerated to retreat
\nIn the confines of the temple
\nNot out on the street<\/p>\n
Where hallowedness and sacredness
\nAnd sanctity was found
\nHoly minded mystics
\nAlways seated on the ground
\nReverent and devoted
\nBut forgetting those sweet souls
\nWhose grandeur was the epitome
\nAnd their dedicated roles<\/p>\n
Their heads were up their arses
\nFor practicallity
\nDidn’t get a look in
\nNobody could see
\nThe lacerations on their trunks
\nThe bull hook wounds that bled
\nThese elephants were suffering
\nMuch of it in their head<\/p>\n
And the temple followers
\nWere respected all the while
\nGiven lots of food aid
\nWho dares to reconcile
\nThe terror that these elephants feel
\nIn a holy space of time
\nThe need now is to observe the laws
\nAnd read this little rhyme<\/p>\n
Read it and digest it
\nAnd remember behind closed doors
\nIn temples many stories
\nNot subject to applause
\nHappen when great beasts are chained
\nAnd not fed properly
\nAnd beaten when they remonstrate
\nWanting to be free<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
They don’t live in the real world These temple people they Many live on handouts All along the way In many ways they are ignorant And spiteful we can see The way they treat the animals Is not how it … Continue reading