Soapbox

The Last Leviathan

Willful ignorance is a sad, frustrating, human trait.
I read in the paper today that Japan is resuming its annual whale hunt. Damn.

My soul has been torn from me and I am bleeding.
My heart it has been rent and I am crying.
All the beauty around me fades and I am screaming-
I am the last of the great whales,
And I am dying.

    The story remarked that after WW2  many Japanese ate whale meat as a cheap source of protein. And now it has become a custom, to which they seem to feel they are entitled.
   "I don’t understand why the world would expect us to give up a custom we have had for so many years" a spokesman said.

This morning the sun did rise crimson in the north sky,
The ice was the colour of blood and the winds they did sigh.
I rose for to take a breath: it was my last one-
From a gun came the roar of death
And now I am done

    Ummm… cause they’re going EXTINCT? Because you are on a course to make your precious  "custom" impossible forever?
Forget the majestic beauty, forget the gentle intelligence of the species or their place in the ecosystem of the oceans… if you exhibit a little self-control now, one day your grandchildren might be able to "enjoy" whales too!

    I guess that’s just me: wanting to stop wars and end hunger and save the whales. Always tilting at windmills and crying when I lose. But it’s so frustrating how willfully ignorant people can be: all people, in so many areas. For some of us bleeding hearts, this area holds a special sorrow. I have never seen a whale. I wonder- will I ever? The killing of whales is so unnecessary, and so barbaric. Ah, but then again, so much of what humankind does IS.

Now that we are all gone there’s no more hunting.
The big fellow is no more, it’s no use lamenting.
What race will be next in line- all for the slaughter?
The elephant or the seal,
Or your sons and daughters?