Celestine Ikwuamaesi Poet Free verse

Strange Mercy

Why shed the blood of a lamb
        that can't trample a scurrying ant
        nor scare a perching fly;
        that can't hurt a brooding hen
        nor startle preening chicks;
        that can't raise her voice beyond a baa
        nor bleat in a noise-free zone;
        that can't brawl with fellow lamb
        nor upset her shepherd's peace;
        that can't restrict the udder to her young
        nor deny the fingers of a milking maid;
        that can't shield her ram from harm
        nor refuse a nod to the slaughter table;
        who in silence walks to the shearing shade,
        who in silence yields her throat to a knife--
in silence shouts her innocence?

For food or fur?
        No: the price to keep
        the wild free,
the roaring lion from shedding blood.


Celestine S.? Ikwuamaesi
(Jan 29, 2018)

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