Ode To Animal Farm

Hope to get back here soon, but I have been consumed with the care of my son who has cancer... this is an older write of mine done when my grandson asked if I had read Orwell's Animal Farm... I’m Boxer, lead horse on Manor Farm, Life is okay here, but really no charm- I work all day and don't like to rest, Our Farmer Jones, he's not quite the best- "Old Major Pig", called a barn meeting to rave, Warning us animals, "Don't be man's slave!" Rebellion in air, "Humans no good," The pigs knew it all, they understood- "All animals are comrades, unite as one," Farmer Jones - his farm, he cannot run- "Beast of England" song - remember the lines, "Man is our enemy," etched in out minds- Pigs were good at spreading the words, Releasing messages via pigeon birds- The chaos erupted, my mind blurred, An award for killing, is that what I heard? "Yes," said pig leaders, "Medals at last, Animal Heroes, 1st and 2nd class." The pigs were the thinkers controlling the mass, Later they'd think, the mass they surpassed! A sad day for me and others, too, When filly Molly switched sides, not liking the coup- Preferring creature comforts, like many do, Hating the pig's order of our animal queue- I often thought Napoleon's decisions weren't right, Even when Snowball was chased out in their fight- Nine guard hounds now protected him daily, Brass studded collars would stop any melee- Pigs told the animals what they thought best, Directing the workers, as they sat to rest- The piglets got mash, milk, whatever to eat, Needed their strength to guard from defeat- Pigs wrote 7 commandments, dictating each rule, And their little piglets were the only one schooled- When changes were made, they applied only to us, The pigs were exempted, we made no fuss! "Old Major" had warned us, egg selling was cruel, Now pigs ordered quotas and selling renewed- The "Beast of England" song now was banned, Napoleon, his kind, had the upper hand! My strong old muscles grew weaker each day, Not enough food, not enough hay- Forced marches around the farm got longer, Sapped of my strength, I couldn't get stronger- My strength all gone, can't stand on my feet, The ambulance came, right down the street- "SLAUGHTER HOUSE" letters- this can't be right, I had worked hard - friends faded from sight- Now down from the sky, I have a different view, A pig walking upright was not the first clue- Napoleon had lied as he climbed to the top, My friends and myself- him, we tried not to stop- Napoleon was different from Farmer Jones, More arrogant and controlling right down to the bones! How blind we all were on this animal farm, Turning our heads when we sensed some alarm- Faithful and true, I had followed the course, For this, like the others, I had lots of remorse- "HAIL TO NAPOLEON" as he walked through the door, I watched all the animals fall on knees to the floor-