All creatures have Mothers
and whatever their shape or form
all Mothers have loved their offspring
since Earth’s very first dawn
Whether they’re high in the treetops
or in the forest deep
they watch over their loved ones
as they stir gently in their sleep
And Mother’s there to nurture
and lend them a guiding hand
to survive in a shrinking world
ravaged by the advance of man
But Mother’s low is unanswered
by the calf they’ve dragged away
Soon she’ll depart this world herself –
the abattoir beckons today
The sow mourns her piglets,
the ewe her lambs’ bloody fate
All moving down production lines
toward humans’ voracious plate
Mournful hens in wire pens
are never allowed to brood
they dream of fluffy chicks unborn
from the eggs we stole for food
The elephant calf sways in distress
beside Mother’s body in the dust
murdered by loathsome poachers
who lusted after her tusks
So spare a thought this Mother’s day
for all Mothers large and small
They so love their children –
So why can’t we love them all?