What a beautiful mausoleum
for a royal soul to hold its cup!
What a love for all of God's creatures
except for the wretched human mass.

You would give bread to a Tiger!,
to a tender cub, sweet milk to sup.
To the fawn and elk the wolves devour,
a supper of leaves; to the wolf, a flower!

And dogs will run wild and beggars be scorned!
And factories of fire keep the human zoo!
For what is a world without animals?
...and humankind,
filthy, wretched, and blind?
Let them do as they will!
Let them labor and kill
in the vulgar way that a fool's crown is thorned!

For art must be born of beauty,
and beauty that manifest desire
by which nature wills and rings a fire.
And yes! with such instinct as comes to play,
that same instinct that the self may acquire
...perhaps someday
with the Earth as a center
they will be animals too!

Copyright © 2001 by Sam Silva