We Are Domesticated Animals

Yes sir
I'll do whatever you say
I'll think whatever you dictate
bow to your superior money
intellect
power
mansion
house
muscles
empire
pretense at authority
whatever

it doesn't make any difference

human beings
are domesticated animals
that's why
the guy that shouts the loudest
or gal
hits the hardest
is the nastiest
scares the most
makes the most money
wears the right robes
is funny
says the best things
likable
the most impressive speaker
acts important
has the most groupies
looks the best
electrifies
says he's Jesus
even if he's stupid
gets the most votes
the most followers
the most believers

we can't make independent decisions
choices
individual evaluations
even stand up for ourselves
it's either too hard
too much work
we have to think too much
are afraid
indecisive
uncaring
lazy
don't want to be bothered

who gives a damn
it's not important anyway

let's go with the flow
like the lemmings

and we wonder why
our air, oceans, soil and food
is contaminated
along with our brains

back in Oregon
when the scientists
at the University of Oregon
stopped the burying of nerve gas containers
in the deserts of northeastern Oregon
miles from the Hanford Atomic Power plant
in 1967

we began the fight
for the life of the human species
they all said
the chemists
molecular biologists
we were already dead

most people didn't care
just like British Petroleum
and Monsanto
their dispersants
and genetically engineered food

after my divorce
I cleaned chemistry vials
for my work study job
at 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
while my three children were asleep
at home

I had on long rubber gloves
a long rubber apron
huge face goggles
to protect me
as I washed these dangerous chemicals
with water
down the drain
into the Willamette River
where most of the state of Oregon
gets their drinking water

use your own calculator

- September 1, 2010

Marcia Sherman (mcsherman@gmail.com)