A Meditation on Three "Objects"

(It occurred to me AFTER I wrote this that Professor Featherston is an actual, publish poet. I should probably apologize for this, but I'm far too easily amused by setting concepts to rhyming verse to be ashamed. I actually don't like writing literary poetry; I just like writing fun rhymes. It's the teacher in me, I suppose.)

I present to you a chicken tender
Lightly battered, deeply fried
But once it was a noble chicken
Trapped in a cage until it died

I present to you a goofy pit bull
Loyal, steadfast, true, and right
With its tail forever wagging
It was forced to win a fight

I present to you a wooden table
Functional, but nothing more
A mere object in a household
Between the walls, above the floor

What do these things have in common?
Very little overall...
But yet they’re all grouped together
Underneath the country’s law

Now let’s step back with dog and chicken
Both disrespected in a way
Yet one is food, the other playmate
“Is this really fair?” we say

If dogs are pets and pets are special
Because of the bond we share
Then to go bonding with our poultry
Is too much for most to bear

But do pets connect us to the wild?
Dogs are owed, yet chickens not?
Both are dependent on our kindness
Neither one can choose their lot

Pets were molded by us humans
Farmed animals as well
Both are used to serve out needs now
If they’re willing, we can’t tell

Are dog and chicken really different?
Both are lives we trade as tools
And when we ignore this concept
We’re the ones who look like fools

So let’s step back and reconsider
The chicken, dog and chair
All are “objects” in our culture
That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care