Be Merciful To The Horse Poem by Robert Kirkland Kernighan

Do the beasts of burden that strive and groan
And writhe and crouch 'neath the pitiless rod

Are they never allowed to make their moan
And lay their wrongs at the feet of God ?

All day I've watched from my window high
The infamous street where the horsewhips hiss,

And I asked myself, Will the day e'er come
When men will answer for all of this ?

For I saw a horse with starting eyes,

With straining nerves and a throbbing flank ;

I saw him strive till his strength gave out
And he on the murderous pavement sank ;