A Dolphin's Song

To be sentient, As it is known. Is not reserved, For man alone. But in ignorance, He thinks thus so. It's the product of, Man's infinite ego. Which is measured by, The amount of control, Man has taken, Over other creatures to hold. And some into slavery, He has readily sold, Or sentenced to death. Man's right to wrong. So, listen, as I give words and breath, Hear mankind, a Dolphin's song. You may believe, We have no soul. This concept would threaten, Your total control, Over the animals, Of land, sky, and water. But I have a spirit, And grieve for the torture, That you have inflicted, Upon me and my kind. So, I am trying to tell you, What is in our hearts and our minds. Please do not close us in four walls, A sterile tank of cold concrete. You treat us like criminals, Who have offended your society. You imprison us there, For children to kiss and pet. For people to experiment with, And curious tourists to marvel at. For the sake of science and greed, You teach us tricks and stupid games. But what you fail to understand, Is that we have lives and we have names. Some men believe animals do not think. That they react to their environment, Through conditioning and instinct. So, their only purpose, Is to be used in service, Until they are all extinct. In many ways we are your equals. We must learn to share Mother Earth. We are living, thinking creatures. We need, we feel, we learn from birth. We need to be social. We have to be free. We cannot live alone, Away from friends and family. If you keep us apart, We fall sick, we mourn and cry. We give up the will to live, And eventually we die. We love and we laugh. We play and we sing. And though we are not, Of human being. We are beings none-the-less, Self-aware as being means. We deserve your respect, For the beings of the sea. All things were created, By a good and higher hand. We just stayed in the oceans, While you strayed on the land. Even though we have suffered much, From your greed and your science. We have also felt the gentle touch, Of your caring and your kindness. To you who save us from the nets, To you who have done us wrong, To you who do not even care, It is to all of you I sing this song. Listen to the Dolphin's song. Listen with your heart and mind. Listen hard and listen long. There is a lesson there to find. ********************* The sad part is, as we all may listen, To the Dolphin's soulful anthem. Some will listen with their minds, But in their hearts not really hear them.