When I was out I passed a man

With two horses and a dray

One horse behaving wildly

As it went upon its way

Why it was rearing on two legs

Or kicking - I don’t know

But there was no excuse at all

For the anger the man did show

He kicked the horse many times

Cruel, thoughtless, strong

Then he whipped the animal

He was powerful and so wrong

The animal could do nothing

To stop the onslaught - dire

But neither could I stop it

Or dare face the man’s wild ire

I saw a man the other day

With a dog on a short lead

It didn't want to go his way

And its master did not heed

By the collar round its throat

He pulled it off its feet

Swung it round and forward

Till the pavement it did greet

The animal could do nothing

But walk with him at last

I had to wonder what the dog

Had faced in its recent past

I was travelling in a car

The image quickly passed

But the memory of that act

Has stayed and it will last

Cruelty takes many forms

Worse when the deed is done

To those who cannot speak

Or fight back against a gun

To young, defenceless children

To animals owned as pets

To those who are too weak

And those the world forgets

We - who are too frightened

Or only notice as we pass by

What can we do to aid them?

It doesn't help to merely cry

I know, yes - I am certain

That those who act this way

Will themselves have hurt

Doled out to them one day

Not by another's cruelty

But by their own actions turned

Around and against themselves

To get what they have earned

If not in this world

Then, most surely, in the next

As every bit of cruelty shown

Is Mercy being vexed

CopyrightACoatesworth 2007