'Animal's Plea for Personhood' by Leonora Ellis

Image by Pieter Van Noorden from Unsplash

You can’t see me without wanting to destroy me. You can’t call my name without wanting to put me in a cage. You can’t understand my level of being. You displace your feelings and failings onto me. You swaddle me. You hit me. You rescue me and feed me. You prod me, hang me up, and slice me. You are my saviour and my oppressor. You eat me. You love me. You are nothing and everything to me. You can’t live without me but discard of me all the same.  

---

Words by Leonora Ellis