POEM :
“BRANDING CATTLE AND SLAVES…”
1st section
How powerful were those beasts :
They pack in terrific power;
They move slowly
But their sheer strength be impressive.
2nd
Now, how to tell them one from another ?
How to identify them correctly ?
How to tell ours from those of others ?
Some mark be need’d,
Something visible,
Some lasting symbol…
3rd
Paint will wash away or fade off;
Some mark that will last a lifetime,
Till they be sent to the slaughterhouse,
Some symbol that says they be ours.
4th
Hurray ! A terrific idea hath struck us :
After all, we be the highest
Among two-legg’d animals…
We be the bosses,
We be owners of animals…
5th
A hot iron driven into the hide,
Into yon sprawling skin,
A mark that will last a lifetime,
Outlasting rain, mud,
Muck and rubbing against stuff…
6th
No way can they resist,
No way can they object :
A clear identification be need’d :
Damn the howls :
A lasting identifying mark
Be what we need…
7th
Now, prepare some wooden contraption,
Some double-sid’d barricade
Into which we will drive them.
Get a longish iron
With a distinct mark of our very own.
Heat up the tip that hath our mark,
Stab it into the mother-wanderers,
Suddenly, forcefully !...
8th
Their strength be huge,
But can’t beat our cunning !...
Stab the blazing iron into them,
Then run for dear life’s sake !
Run clear of the mother-er-wailers !...
9th
Ho ho ho ! Them that used to slouch slowly
Now be running like race horses !!...
See how they run,
See how they jump !
But, the work hath been done !
Thou may run, fatso,
But thou doth bear our mark !
Thou be our property,
Says the burnt mark on thy skin !
*****
10th
Meeuhhh ! Meeuuh !
What hath struck us in a flash ?!
We never went near fire,
How come we be burning ??...
These treacherous, pale-fac’d fiends
Suddenly stuck a low blow !...
Aaah ! How it hurts !....
11th
Aaaah !.... Aaah !
What did we do to them,
In the name of animal God !!
What did we do to them !!
We just eat grass.
Even our droppings
Make the grass grow better…
12th
Something did tell us,
Beware of them mother-er-traitors !...
Trust not their fake smiles,
Their treacherous pats on the skin…
Indeed, regularly some of our kindred
Be taken off on strange contraptions
With turning, roundish black legs
That move in a weird fashion…
Their roving contraptions be as treacherous
Just as themselves…
13th
Aaah ! What a burning pain on the skin !
We know not with what we were struck…
But it be so painful, so painful…
Where to run to,
How to heal this,
What a sorry fate do we have !...
‘Twere better to have kill’d us suddenly…
*****
14th
They have slow’d down,
The fatsoes….
They may run
But they may not hide….
Ho ho ho ho ho !...
Dammit,
We have to know who be our beasts :
We don’t care about the hot iron…
*******
15th
By branding with the hot iron,
We leave a clear mark on the beasts…
Now, the two-legg’d fiends, too,
An exasperating habit do have
Of running away.
How to tell them apart
When they be caught ?...
16th
Hurray ! Hurray !
A terrific idea hath struck us :
After all, we be the smartest !....
Hurray !... Let’s go ! Let’s go !...
Gram them two-legg’d ones,
The mother-er-skivers !...
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5 July, 2026
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