Imagine ...
Imagine yourself sitting on the sand,
The sun just at the right temperature,
Imagine the white waves crashing down on the sand,
And the seagulls flying in the sky,
What a beautiful sight to see.
Now erase that from your mind,
Because we are now to imagine something else,
A cat, do you like cats? I do, they're so placid and kind,
But this picture I am about to paint is not as pleasant
As the first.
Let's give this cat ginger, short hair,
And how about some nice deep green eyes,
Just for fun we'll throw in a white sock
On its rear right leg, that's fair.
We know what it looks like now, quite a cute thing.
So, I'll tell you what they are doing to it,
They, being various universities and physiology departments,
There are also laboratories, Food and Drug Administrations,
You'd better sit, for there are many departments,
And they all do experiments on animals.
Getting back to our cat,
And we may as well name her,
What do you think of Pat?
Nothing fancy for this unfortunate cat.
Would you agree that computers are our present,
And they are our past and our future,
But when they are used to an extent
Where it hurts someone or something, that is wrong?
Pat has had a mini computer put in her head,
A cranial electrode implant to be precise.
A computer implanted into something living,
This will take time for you to see.
Can you imagine it? I never thought of it,
Until I read a booklet and saw the picture,
This tiny computer, along with a bit
All for recording results on different experiments conducted.
To think about how much pain poor Pat
Must have gone through,
To think that Pat was not the only cat to go
Through that type of treatment.
If you were the one to do that,
You would feel so low,
And don't forget they use other animals too.
I must make sure now that I haven't lost you,
That you are imagining what I am saying,
And now you can see what I saw, and what it looks like too.
Because if I was listening I would want to walk away.
And if you do feel that way, as I do,
How do you think that cat I saw in the picture
Must have felt?
That cat would have suffered so much,
And gone through a lot of agony.
I am sure that both you and I would not have
Fallen for a con,
Would not put ourselves in that position,
But what choice do these animals have
About being tested on,
They probably do try to escape.
Where would they get to in a physiology department?
The next room, the next testing room,
Where they would be placed under the same treatment,
So what good would it have done?
Now if you thinking that I'm never going to
Tell you to stop imagining this,
And that there is no happy ending,
Well you are right, I'm not going to tell you to stop.
I want you to remember me and what you imagined.
The only way you can make this have a happy ending
Is by you and your friends and even your enemies,
You will need everyone's help in determining
The fate of these animals, which lies in your hands.
Now there is one last thing I have to say,
Please rest here just for another minute
Before you leave this state of mind today,
I will always be in your mind to remind you
What to say.
In Pat's head I could see a screw,
Excuse me while I catch my breath,
... And you catch yours too,
Because that comes as a shock,
I know.
How would you like me to finish off
By saying:
We will imagine something else now,
A nice white picture, because it is snowing,
You're all rugged up, nice and warm!!
Kylene Clark, year 10, Lakes Entrance Vic
This poem comes from the collection
New Voices for the Animals - Young Australian Writers Speak out on Issues of Animal Welfare
.
Animal Liberation SA holds the copyright to this work. Permission is granted to teachers to make copies for their own students.