did the adelaide vegan festival yesterday
nice people who ran it
they had a decent p.a. for a change
the sound seemed good
i did the usual songs
i did the usual raves maybe not so vehemently
i had to do 2 sets
now i dont like to do 2 sets
thats getting a little too much for me
but i did cos they were nice people
the guy who met me at the airport
he was over sixty but veganism had rendered him slim n boyish
i didnt mind if he called me pete
which he seemed to do a bit
the audience were ok
there wasnt too many there
but enough to make it ok
they listened
they clapped
i had some time to kill
so i wandered round
got myself a lentil burger
then i wandered into a booth showing films
as i walked in
there was a bullfight on the screen
a tired bull covered in blood
and losing blood copiously
stuck thru with nasty little spears
finally the matador appears
a real hero
ponced up in his stupid fucking clothes
no, he should be wearing a butchers smock
this courageous prick
eventually stabs the dying confused bull
in the head
and the poor poor thing
expires in more torrents of blood
then the whales
blasting em
hooking em
chucking the “bad” bits away
mothers n calves….ah fuck em
harpoon em all…theres plenty more
then the dolphins
i’d seen bits of this before
but now i was transfixed before the screen
in a little booth at glenelg public school
on a lovely day in adelaide
i watched as somewhere in japan
someone secretly filmed the dolphin slaughter
confusing em with sonar sounds
herding em into pens
they then drag em out
onto dry land
the mothers n calves calling out to each other
i began to cry
tears of rage
tears of sadness
tears of shame
the dolphins are dragged onto the dock
where the japs walk around n slit their throats
casually n jokingly, hopping around adroitly
to avoid another huge spurt of dolphin blood
n grinning to each other
as if they were picking daisies
and the dolphins expire
just like youd expire
if someone ripped yer windpipe out
IN FUCKING PAROXYSMS OF AGONY
you should see these creatures
as they die a horrific death
as they shudder n convulse n their life gushes out
yeah
theres humanity for ya
we got computers
we got museums with fancy pitchers
we got the a-list n glittering functions
n
we got this unspeakable horror
next up was the cows
ok
i thought
cows
at least its not dolphins right?
i mean i grew up knowing cows had to die, didnt i?
ok
but these were indian cows
that their dirt poor owners had sold for leather
these cows had shoes nailed on their feet
so they could do the long journey to where they killed em
they are dragged with no food or water for miles
if they refuse they break their tails
or rub chili directly into their eyes
this re-motivates em to keep walking apparently
many die on the journey
piteously pitifully so sadly so fucking sadly my fiendss
finally if they survive
they have their heads sawn off
(not cut off cleanly but sawn off)
in front of each other
the camera focusses on the big sad eyes
of a gentle cow
an innocent defenceless creature
a sentient living being
a mammal that had calves n fed them n loved them
we see the eyes of the cow
as some little malnourished guy hacks her head off
and the eye of the cow focussed right on me
n i just hadda watch
n i just had to shudder n cry
because i’m only human
and i cant stand it
and the cow asked me “why”
why is this being done to me
i have feelings
i have fear
i had a life
and then
we see all the other cows watching
distressed n anxious n so fucking afraid
ok
i cant move outta my chair
i’m sorry if this aint what ya wanna read
i’m sorry it aint a nice poem
or a story about my paisley shirt
then came fur
there are no regulations concerning fur animals
a secret hidden camera filmed a fur farm in the u.s.
foxes n ermines n things i didnt even know
raccoons n things
are all in tiny tiny cages
they cant take one step in any direction
they boil in summer
they freeze in winter
the camera films as some kinda fox-like white creature
is dragged from its filthy cage by a rope round its neck
its just lifted up by its neck
hey its vermin, aint it?
its dragged out by its neck
n its anally electrocuted
ie
a probe gets stuck up its ass
n
another probe is stuck in its mouth
ok jerry switch on the current!
the fox stares at the camera
we see the foxes eyes as its shocked…
damn jerry…the damn varmints still alive
they gotta give it a few more shocks
before it gives up its miserable ghost
as i looked into this fox’s eyes
as i saw it die in agony n humiliation
it negated all the lovely poems
all the pretty paintings
all the clever songs
all the elaborate religions n mythology
all the concerts n games n celebrations
all the pretty girls n handsome men
all the committees n proms n socials n parties
all the obamas n osamas n whatever else
here is humanity at work
heres how the expensive fur gets on the ladies shoulders
blood n piss n shit n guts
but
ya know what ma fiendss
this fox woulda thought it was real lucky
cos then we switch to the chinese fur trade
they had animals in cages
that woulda made the u.s. fur beasties
seem like they were being put up at the hilton
and these tragic things…they mostly look like
some kinda doggies
these doggies would have prayed for 500 volts in the rectum
cos these guys
WERE SKINNED ALIVE!
uh huh
they hung em up
n they pulled the fucking fur n skin off em
leaving a living creature like a muscle diagram
its eyes still blinking
writhing n struggling
in the most unbelievable agony (un)imaginable
i will never erase these pictures from my mind
while i was still trying to keep my lentil burger down
you saw a tip truck
empty the millions of skinned things into a pit
now just shapeless disgusting objects
some were ground up n fed to the remaining ones
hey! waste not want not…
then the baby seals
right in front of the mother
wham a pick-axe through the skull
gee dont that blood look red against the snow
and the little seals cream coloured pelt…
id had enough
i stumbled out into the daylight
back to the “normaility” of sunday
re-radicalized
fuck it!
this is the good fight!
i am disgusted by “humanity”
as the film asked
are we not the cruelest most savage creatures on earth?