Today, it is an honor to present “Part 2: Love for All Beings,” from the book “Love of Centuries,” by Supreme Master Ching Hai. The first poem, “Words of a Piglet,” conveys gratitude from a piglet and his mother towards their human carers and, later, their pain and anguish upon realizing that the piglet is to be killed as animal-people flesh for human consumption. The second poem, “Imagine it is Thee!” describes the horrendous conditions that animal-people endure in the animal-people flesh industry.
Part 2: Love for All Beings
Words of a Piglet (Lời Lợn Con)
“The day I met you first Was the day of my birth. Pink and round, me oh so plump I gaily frolicked with Mom.
Lovingly you looked at me Praising, ‘Oh, so round, what a cutie!’ Every day you came by to visit Bringing cool water and delicious veggie treats …
Mommy and I were so touched Your kindness, more than gold worth I lived a peaceful life Under your care and protection Growing more plump with each passing day Just eat, rest and play...
So lovely was this early morn As clouds were drifting across the sky Cuddling together, Mommy and I Unaware of the befalling tragedy!
Two brawny young men Strong like tigers and elephants Squashed my tiny body into a cage of horror. Flat! There was no way to escape! O GOD, what purgatory was this?
I wailed in fear and terror Mom, oh Mom, please save me! Oh caretaker, please, fast, come protect me! Rescue my life, I’m still at a tender age!
Mom was crying out in sorrow Tears of desperation filling her eyes The immense Heavens cannot contain This horrendous emotional pain!
My caretaker turned away Hands busy counting a stack of money Haplessly I rolled around in the car trunk Breaking heart more painful than bodily misery!
The two young men bantered: ‘This piglet will be so tasty! Tomorrow we’ll slaughter him To celebrate the birth of the wife’s newborn baby!’
Oh, how ironic this life My soul is shattered Tears flow in my heart Like blood running in rivulets.
I thought you loved me Nurturing me to maturity But all this was a sham For you, it’s just profit and gain!
Tomorrow my body will be chopped to pieces My flesh and bones turned to sheer torture Just so people can laugh in merriment At their happy feast and gathering.
To your children and others’ too I wish them all long lives So the family can stay together Not endure the same fate as mine...
I pray the whole family lives nobly To be human in many lifetimes And never be reborn as pigs Paying forever karmic debts!
Alas, good-bye life... I ache for my gentle suffering mother In tears I am overcome... Oh, Mommy! Mom … Mom …”
Imagine It’s Thee!
“Confined in a dirty, tiny, little crate Don’t know how to spell s-p-a-c-e-space Wading in filth and urine and stench Never feel the sun or breeze on my skin! Are these made only for human beings? Can neither turn to the left nor right Force-fed drugs till you lose your mind! Sweltering at noon, frozen in the night Fresh air? What is it, in the name of life? Cuddling babies? You might trample on them! Or they’ll die from cold and rotten hygiene If they survive, they’ll be eaten afresh At such tender months! Oh all the Gods!!!
Can’t even tell of my nightmare The entire human race, anyone cares?! I live in terror and suffering my whole life Just for their pleasure = a bloody bite! Enduring truck with hampering stand To wherever to be torn open from limb to limb Or to hang from one leg on the ceiling! And to have your throat slit like a worst criminal Gut and blood spilling all over Amid crying, begging and agonizing screams! How can anyone bear or enjoy such a sight? Have they all been dumb, deaf and blind?
Since when have humans become so cruel, Losing all their loving, kind nature? They kick, stab, slice and torture Oh the pain is beyond endure! I cry for help! … Is someone there?!... How come only blood, blood, and blood everywhere? Within these cramped, dark, horror-filled walls There is no one but axes and shadows Shadows that are mighty, axes that are sharp I am terrified; I am small, trembling, helpless. Oh! If you don’t know if there is hell Come and see, right here, nowhere else! Dear Human friends, how can this be? Why, why, why must you torture and eat me?
Imagine it’s thee. Imagine it’s a member of – Thy family!”
