we
went,
our
parents being teachers,
to
all the factories available...hot metal
exuding
the reek of tar built-up
over
decades of works.
&
of
all these,
I
think, the abattoir
most
marked me
and
yet,
but
still, I am no vegetarian
but
those
who are,
when
I mention this
flee
from understanding
into
ideology...seeing my parents’ choice
-
to expose young children to same -
as
mere cruelty
but
we
(already)
ate
meat...and, so
should
we not understand
how
it came to be - from the flesh
of
animals bred-up for such, and
how,
nonetheless
the
killing was shocking
my
parents
unlike
most, came from families
close
to the land,
and
so,
they
had no hypocrisy
here,
wore no pretence that
meat
came from
butchers...let
alone wrapped/sterile
in
supermarket trays...and, so
we
(already) had no illusions
but,
the steer
came
up the ramp
and,
held, was killed unknowing
of
its fate - as we all will be,
when
the butcher cuts
us
down
John
Henry Calvinist
