I almost became a vegetarian
during my teenage tenure at
one Texas beef packing plant;
that time of blood,
bone and discovery.
I might have given up on meat—
except for the redeeming,
anesthetic artistry,
of the friendly butcher
at the local grocery store.
Have you ever seen steam
enshroud hundreds of bloody
carcasses halved and hanged,
still quivering with life,
swinging in the flash deep freeze; or
bins of rumen sucked out and dried,
beside vats full of maggots eating
flesh stripped from hides?
But you know,
its not the gore
that haunts me to this day,
but rather the eye
of one hapless cow,
driven through the
kill floor door;
that look of terror
directed at me,
one moment before
the lights went out.
Author notes
Written June 5th, 2004
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