The Vegetarian Encounter

She said she didn't eat meat
It's so vulgar now to kill
And just the thought of eating meat
Was enough to make her ill

She talked about their pain then
How brutal their demise
I said I understood that
As I ate my chicken thighs

I stopped her with a gesture
Said 'I don't mean to offend;
Had she seen the rice lamenting
As they contemplate their end?'

Did she know the beans were praying?
Just before their salty boil
Or the asparagus being burned alive
In searing olive oil

She said that fish were meatless
I said you look them in the eye
And tell them they are veggies
That's why they get to die

Had she heard the lettuce screaming
In the salad shooter's blade?
Was she haunted by those cabbages
As they drowned in hollandaise?

I remember broccoli begging
As her teeth tore them apart
So stop it with this veggie thing
All they do is make me fart

© Russell Robison

Delta Blue--Hallowed Ground