Dance of graved hunger.

Thursday 5th April 2012 5:12 pm

In the flower beds of worshiped beasts my memory mutters sympathetic flesh, trembling in vile despair. The adored body, beautiful and mystic.

New flesh growing in dark stalks. I shall find you in the luxury of the soul.

And If I may be so bold.

Humans worship a beast.

For if you eat the flesh of animals, do not tell me you know what love is. You do not know love in it's purest and fullest form.

The beast blindly victimizes and sends them

six feet under in stomached graves.

Turning against the darkness, the feast of ashes sweating in the air. O the pleasant taste of death, I destroy myself in the white stretched sky.

Vile love-making puppets drone

Die! Die! Die!

◄ Aeon.

Letter. ►

Comments

Yvonne Brunton

Mon 9th Apr 2012 12:42

Oh Yes, if we truly loved all the animals of the earth we would not farm any to eat. We would not husband them for our gain. Nor would we interfere in their lives and their suffering at the hands of nature, nor seek to heal their ailments and use science to create medicines for them.
I agree that vivisection on animals who have done us no harm is bad - my chosen 'animals would be human prisoners convicted unequivocably of serious crimes.

Rachel Bond

Sat 7th Apr 2012 14:16

mmm....food for thought.

life is pain. love is pain. the human condition is that we are seperate from godhood (ie unity) i do not believe that love is all about achieving this nirvana. it is about accepting the world for what it is. love pain warts and all. it is impossible for life without death..what of all the little microbes and tiny insect types that we flatten everyday. what if there is a bigger entity beyond comprehension shaking up the globe and causing tidal waves? some things are beyond us..its a bit of an assumption to presume aliens are anything like us and have a dietry tract. there could be aliens draining my lifeforce from this very laptop right now and sucking it into computer juice! haha

i taught myself to cook as a vegetarian theres something to be said about the colour and texture and vibrancy of veg. i think it certainly turns on the taste buds and saliva bits. i am not against vegetarianism good cause, but my belief systems are different which is my right to have. if you were to defend an animal against me in combat and it got away i might be forced to chop you up and eat you instead. cannibalism is rife ;)

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 13:51

I find when talking to people about this and they are against not eating meat. They have double standards. And I quote George Bernard Shaw- "If a group of beings from another planet were to land on Earth -- beings who considered themselves as superior to you as you feel yourself to be to other animals -- would you concede them the rights over you that you assume over other animals?"

And they always say no. They would not like to be treat like that.

And if an intelligent race did come to our Earth I doubt they would use us has food. If they have the intelligence to travel to our earth from another planet, I presume they have evolved enough not to cause pain to other beings.

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 13:43

You can love one person unconditonally or your family the same. But that is not love in it's fullest form. You need to love yourself, love others, all Humanity, animals, all living beings. Love for the Universe and everything in it. All is one. Unity. If you see everything as one you wouldn't want to eat animals. You would love them. You wouldn't want to cause them pain or kill them, you would let them die by their own means, not by us killing them.

Unity. If a being has the ability to suffer then what right do we have to cause that being pain? And what for? Our pleasure, beacause we like the taste? We need it to survive? We can get everything we need to survive without eating meat. And I'm sure if the tables were turned and Humans were treat like we treat animals, there would be hell on.

Rachel Bond

Sat 7th Apr 2012 12:57

please explain it again for the feeble minded among us. why do you say that a meat eater does not know love in its true and fullest form?

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 12:52

I have explained. You are not understanding. And don't take that as being 'superior'

Rachel Bond

Sat 7th Apr 2012 12:39

you still have not offered an explanation of your statement about love.
it was the strongest statement you made and the only interesting bit to me.
carnivores/herbivores...we are omnivorous and have choice. thats it. but still your tone, language, style, content of this poem and subsequent comments, choice of quotes are suggestive of ideas of the supremecy of a vegetarian lifestyle. i find it a bit ridiculous and would love to read what your thoughts are surrounding that grandiose idea:

For if you eat the flesh of animals, do not tell me you know what love is. You do not know love in it's purest and fullest form.'

please do explain enlightened one.

the closest i got to spiritual enlightenment as a vegetarian was a slight buzz whilst talking to cows due to release of guilt conscience. they did not talk back were merely oblivious to my presence except as a target for pssible death by stampede.
are you vegan? what about all that terrible cruelty?
hindu belief systems claim the incorporation of the living soul of that which we eat. i like the idea of being part cow and not particular interested in living with soul of carrot say...i could talk veggie bullshit all day, moooo.

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 11:11

Oh. Spiffing. mate.

Neil Fawcett

Sat 7th Apr 2012 11:00

You need to go and meditate mate.

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 10:31

Oh and the plant thing. No reputable study has ever shown that plants can "feel pain". They lack the nervous system and brain necessary for this to happen. A plant can respond to stimuli, for example by turning towards the light or closing over a fly, but that is not the same thing. It is also hard to see what purpose pain could serve for the plant, since they can hardly run away.

Danny Metcalfe.

Sat 7th Apr 2012 10:29

I have heard these same arguments before about the bloody food chain and I eat meat so the animal can live. It means nothing. Still not a good argument to eat meat. And I've had people saying 'well animals do it in nature' Fucking hell, what a stupid world we live in. It's about growing.

We are one with the animals but we lack unity with them.

The reason why the world lacks unity,
and lies broken and in heaps,
is because man is disunited with himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings,
and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye.
- Buddha

Isobel

Sat 7th Apr 2012 10:13

In defence of vegetarianism, a lamb wouldn't kill a human if it was starving, nor would a calf, blinded from having been kept in the dark - nor would a sick duck, force-fed on grain till its liver burst.

Humans are capable of great cruelty when it comes to how they groom their meat. I can understand how that would lead to revulsion for those of a very spiritual nature.

I don't think Danny seeks to mock meat eaters in this poem. He is just expressing his despair in a passionate way.

Rachel Bond

Sat 7th Apr 2012 00:51

dying of starvation is a serious matter...first comes insanity and youd eat anything...not time for being nice to the animals that neil rightly points out would eat you first. its a noble idea i suppose that you would give your life for a fish. i question the reality of that

you still havent explained your 'pure' love statement.

Nick Coleman

Fri 6th Apr 2012 23:51

I eat meat so the animal can live. My livestock would be condemned to never seeing the light of life if no one made use of them. (But I do insist on myself killing what I eat.)
I respect them, I hope they respect the way I treat them. Death has to be, for every living thing. And they have now found that plants can communicate their pain to neighbouring plants when damaged, so don't kill the lettuce.
Sorry, this may be tongue in cheek.

Neil Fawcett

Fri 6th Apr 2012 23:37

I'm sorry if you think that my contribution is a little 'old hat'. But you must acknowledge that all this elitist nonsense about 'one true love' is just flakey rubbish. You have your take on the world, but it has no more value than anyone elses. I've just watched a programme about the beauty and and brutality of wolves, who tear their living victims apart, that's nature and we just happen to be at the top of the food chain.
I don't think that humans are any more worthy than other creatures, we just happen to have developed self consciousness that allows us to reason and be aware of the world around us. And all this talk about sin is just so much religious nonsense.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 20:18

Oh, wow. That's a new one. I'll think that one over.

Neil Fawcett

Fri 6th Apr 2012 20:00

No, but the animal would certainly eat you given the opportunity.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 19:42

It's not about being Superior, We are all one. We are all the same. It's about spiritual growth.

If I was stuck on a desert island I would much rather die than eat an animal. I wouldn't like to presume that an animal would want to give me his life for my survival. I have no way of knowing that. I would much rather have the animal survive.

The goal is to be selfless. No one is perfect but we should strive to be selfless.

Rachel Bond

Fri 6th Apr 2012 19:17

ok danny, please explain this bit:

'For if you eat the flesh of animals, do not tell me you know what love is. You do not know love in it's purest and fullest form.'

its great its like something from the sermon on the mount. dont mind me and my fascism i just like the word. FASCIST.

i do like it. i only bother to comment on work i find engaging in some way and i like the gravity with which you write.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 18:45

I have never heard a good argument for the eating of animals. And to just clear it up, I never said people who eat meat are less able to love. Let's get that straight. What I said has been misunderstood. And It has nothing to do with being Superior.

Isobel

Fri 6th Apr 2012 18:36

Just to say that I enjoyed the poem and the discussion - it made me think - and I like poetry that makes me think.

Isobel

Fri 6th Apr 2012 18:32

Clearly what each person/poet finds offensive in another person's poetry varies drastically from one to the other.

I was raised on offal because it was cheap. I learnt to eat whatever I was given - even to the point that I could cut the ventricles and dried blood out of heart (which my dad left in) then polish off the rest. I now have the constitution of an ox - pardon the pun... and I wouldn't dream of feeding my own children on a diet I considered defficient in essential vitamins.

Quite frankly, I don't give a hoot if vegetarians believe me to be less able to love because of my dietary beliefs and I don't find anything fascist in this poem. I would only be offended if I was physically prevented from eating what I wanted to.

A poem expressing personal beliefs is just not going to offend me - unless it's promoting or justifying paedophilia. Thankfully, I've at last reached a stage in my life when I can ignore just about anything else.

I do think the mass slaughtering and packaging of animals is quite distasteful. We have become divorced from the physicality of what we are doing. In my childhood, we kept ducks and geese, we ate road kill - we were part of a food chain - it seemed more acceptable because we were part of the cycle - if that makes sense.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 18:21

Anyway, glad you like it. XD

Rachel Bond

Fri 6th Apr 2012 17:56

isobel: 'gibberish' was meant to refer to my own writing, not this poem.

'a love that doesnt kill anything' is impossible it is impossible to live without killing anything. to live is to love. to infer that there are greater forms of love that only a select can feel is a fascist statement. any statement can be made in poetry..its right to expression is equal, but if that statement offends then the challenging its source is a natural response. i might write a list of other fascist ideas and i would only expect a challenge. because vegetarianism is about not killing animals does not make it a peaceful ideology neccessarily. lots of vegetarians have strange ideas about humans, Hitler for example.

Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! that is poetry and dead on. we are that by nature.

'For if you eat the flesh of animals, do not tell me you know what love is. You do not know love in it's purest and fullest form.'
that is a direct quote. i do not wish to twist your words.

'one day the world will learn' is a very self centred and patronising statement again with overtones of the idea of supremecy by ideology or otherwise. there is no such thing as a bloodless revolution.

i dont care what you eat as long as its not my cat.

'freedom for negative criticism' DISCLAIMER

*i write patronising, sanctimonious, condascending and all other negative style poetry all the time. i have a healthy respect for criticism that points this out.* please send all bully comments to my inbox.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 17:44

I never said they were incapable of true love. You're twisting what I said.

I have no doubt that it is a part of the destiny of the human race, in its gradual improvement, to leave off eating animals, as surely as the savage tribes have left off eating each other.... ~Henry David Thoreau

To my mind, the life of a lamb is no less precious than that of a human being. I should be unwilling to take the life of a lamb for the sake of the human body. ~Mahatma Gandhi

Nothing will benefit human health and increase chances for survival of life on Earth as much as the evolution to a vegetarian diet. ~Albert Einstein

We manage to swallow flesh only because we do not think of the cruel and sinful thing that we do. Cruelty... is a fundamental sin, and admits of no arguments or nice distinctions. If only we do not allow our heart to grow callous, it protests against cruelty, is always clearly heard; and yet we go on perpetrating cruelties easily, merrily, all of us - in fact, anyone who does not join in is dubbed a crank. ~Rabindranath Tagore

A man of my spiritual intensity does not eat corpses. ~George Bernard Shaw

Truly man is the king of beasts, for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others: we are burial places! I have from an early age abjured the use of meat, and the time will come when men such as I will look on the murder of animals as they now look on the murder of men. ~Leonardo da Vinci

One day the world will learn.

Isobel

Fri 6th Apr 2012 17:30

I wouldn't say this is gibberish and whether or not I or anyone disagrees with the sentiments expressed is irrelevant.

It's not fascist to believe in a love that doesn't kill anything. It is just another viewpoint that has a right to exist and express itself through poetry.

Rachel Bond

Fri 6th Apr 2012 17:06

well i could write gibberish and it would be as credible a statement as one that says meateaters are incapable of true love.

a loyt of vegetarians assume that meat eaters are ignorant to their cause. not true i know 100s of ex vegetarians who now eat meat. i am one. the vegetarian friends i have who continue to live meat free never really ever mention it. they are an example by their actions.

i am all for writing about issues any of them but your statement about love is fascist. think about it.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 14:51

Oh dear.

Rachel Bond

Fri 6th Apr 2012 14:48

haha ill see you in tescos when your malnourished from eating nuts and drooling over the meat counter, hoping non of our veggie police friends can see you.
trapped on a desert island youll be screaming over your coconuts whilst i roast up a nice fish...unconditional love is based on sacrifice.

Danny Metcalfe.

Fri 6th Apr 2012 11:59

One day we will look back in disgust at how we treated animals. One day we will look upon the murder of animals as we look upon the murder of Humans. And I don't care if eating animals has a benefit of survival, what I care about is if what we eat can suffer. And the answer to that is yes, they can."I am not interested to know whether vivisection produces results that are profitable to the human race or doesn't...The pain which it inflicts upon unconsenting animals is the basis of my enmity toward it, and it is to me sufficient justification of the enmity without looking further."
Mark Twain
We do not need to eat meat to survive. We can easily live off , fruit, veg, nuts ect. And to quote Albert Einstein- 'Besides agreeing with the aims of vegetarianism for aesthetic and moral reasons, it is my view that a vegetarian manner of living by its purely physical effect on the human temperament would most beneficially influence the lot of mankind."

And yes there are many forms of love. But there is only one true love, only one that is real. The rest are just fake, conditional, Tesco value copies.

Isobel

Fri 6th Apr 2012 09:51

I didn't read the first version so I'm at a disadvantage. I did kind of think this might be about vegetarianism though - the fact that if humans were capable of love in its purest form, they could not kill or feed off another living thing? Or perhaps you intended it as a metaphor for people feeding off each other, rather than loving in a wholesome way.

There are clearly different kinds of love. I could do all of those things Rachel says to save one of my children - I'm not sure I could ever do the same for a man though - he'd have to fight it out for himself...

Rachel Bond

Fri 6th Apr 2012 00:10

i repeat: for love i would sacrifice a lamb and choke the neck of an adultress.for love i would kill. hunger the same. survival.

preferred shorter version, more power in it.

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