The Slaughter Poem by Jan Oskar Hansen

The slaughter

850 cows stuck on a ship for months could be made into a joke
but it is hellish damnation of how low we have sunk
in our utter callousness towards animals.
A veterinarian says they must be put down the animals
have suffered enough.
A massacre of the innocent.
Once the shipping was an honourable trade, the ships
had an owner; we seamen knew they were individuals.
Now shipping has become a soulless corporation
run by the incompetent whose only goal is profit.
They say the world is better now than before, I disagree
we are going back into the dark ages
when the life of animals had no consequences.
When we behave with cruelty to animals, it is contagious
we lose respect for all life and let cynicism rule.