Maddicts – a scary story [or just a bit of self-indulgent wish fulfilment] – starts tomorrow! 😀
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vegan, vegan horror, vegan poem, vegan story, vegan satire, vegan graphic novel, vegan comic
Category Archives: poetry
Sing a Song of Sixpence
Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,
Four and twenty sweet plums baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened the plums were soft within,
Wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before my kin?
****
My dad was in the bathroom finishing his shave,
My mum was at the front door giving friends a wave,
My gran was in the garden sitting in the sun,
But they all came for plum pie with yellow custard on.
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For more vegan nursery rhymes, click here 😀
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vegan, vegan nursery rhymes, poetry, nursery rhymes, children’s rhymes, veggie kids, vegan children
There was a young man who swallowed a fly
There was a young man who swallowed a fly.
He didn’t mean to swallow a fly – I doubt he’ll die.
****
There was a young man who swallowed a fish,
A sad grey fish, dead on the dish.
And he did mean to swallow the fish
Unlike the fly – Perhaps he’ll die!
****
There was a young man who swallowed a bird,
How absurd, to swallow a bird!
And he did mean to swallow the bird
Unlike the fly – Perhaps he’ll die!
****
There was a young man who swallowed a pig,
Poor little pig who wasn’t big.
And he did mean to swallow the pig
Unlike the fly – Perhaps he’ll die!
****
There was a young man who swallowed a lamb,
Sweet little lamb, a baby ram.
And he did mean to swallow the lamb
Unlike the fly – Perhaps he’ll die!
****
There was a young man who swallowed a cow,
A gentle cow who’d grazed under the bough.
And he did mean to swallow the cow
Unlike the fly – Perhaps he’ll die!
****
And when the young man was not so young,
He felt the weight of all he’d done.
The fat in his liver and fuzz in his mind
Made him wish he’d at least been kind
And swallowed some tofu instead of fish,
And put beans not birds in his oven dish,
And swallowed brown mushrooms instead of piglets,
And cooked lentils and onions instead of lamb cutlets.
If only, he wished, he’d not eaten a cow
Then surely he’d be in good health right now.
****
There was a young man who swallowed a fly.
Of course he’ll die, but that’s not why.
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vegan, vegetarian, vegan nursery rhymes, vegan poem, nursery rhyme parody, humor, vegan children
Big Grasshopper
Big Grasshopper
On the baby apple tree,
I wonder what you’re thinking
While you calmly look at me.
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Photographs by Ralf Kunze and Cocoparisienne of Pixabay
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animals, nature, insects, grasshopper, garden, vegan, photography, poem
Bonny Brenda
Bonny Brenda
Met a vendor
At the Summer Fayre.
Said bonny Brenda
To the vendor,
“What have you got there?”
***
“Oh lots of things,”
The vendor said,
“There’s pies and breads and pasties,
Steak and kidney,
Sausage rolls,
And even bacon butties.”
***
Brenda frowned,
She was not pleased,
She found his stuff distasteful.
His folding table,
Six feet wide,
Held entrails by the plateful.
***
“Sorry I asked,”
Said Brenda at last,
“That’s yucky, you’re disgusting!
And if you think
This doesn’t stink,
You need your brain adjusting!”
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For more nursery rhymes click here 😀
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vegan nursery rhymes, vegan children, veggie kids, vegetarian, poems, poetry, children’s rhymes, children’s poems, vegan poems, animal rights
Bye Baby Bunting
Bye Baby Bunting
Bye baby bunting,
Daddy’s making something.
It’s safe and strong and soft within,
To rock his baby bunting in.
Bye baby bunting,
Daddy’s painting something.
It’s lilac, blue and pink within
To rock his baby bunting in.
Bye baby bunting,
Daddy’s fetching something,
A thing of beauty, made by him,
To rock his baby bunting in.
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For more nursery rhymes click here 😀
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vegan, vegetarian, vegan nursery rhymes, illustration, children’s rhymes, vegan children, raising vegan children, veggie kids
Little Miss Greylag
Little Miss Greylag
Sat on a beanbag
Eating her mint Moo Free.
Along came a rabbit
Who tried hard to grab it
So Miss Greylag went straight home for tea.
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nursery rhymes, vegan nursery rhymes, vegan chocolate, vegan, organic, fair trade, Moo Free Chocolate
Angry Vegan
I try not to be an angry vegan,
I’m treading on eggshells you know,
So as not to upset fragile meaties,
And milkies and egg-lovers too.
********
The reason I ask them so gently,
To please stop paying for death,
Is because they say they won’t listen,
If I offend them by telling the truth.
********
And so while I tiptoe on eggshells,
They continue to breed and to kill,
The gentle, magnificent, blameless beasts,
Helpless slaves to the gluttonous will.
********
Well I am an angry vegan!
I feel fury and heartbreak and rage!
You hurt them, you break them, you kill them!
When you pay for their parts with your wage.
********
There is no excuse, you are heartless,
And I’m tired of pretending otherwise.
You hurt them and kill them for pleasure,
For your tastebuds’ habitual vice.
Hickory Dickory Dock
Hickory dickory dock,
I’ve got a hole in my sock.
The sock’s the one
With piggies on,
Hickory dickory dock.
Ickledy spickledy speck,
My scarf is around my neck.
The scarf’s the one
With ducklings on,
Ickledy spickledy speck.
Umbuldy tumbuldy tack,
I wear my bag on my back.
The bag’s the one
With moo cows on,
Umbuldy tumbuldy tack.
Spirally jirally jook,
My things have my friends on, look:
There’s pictures of
The ones I love,
Spirally jirally jook.
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For more vegan nursery rhymes, pop over here 😀
Old McSpreader
Sing to the tune of Old MacDonald 🙂
Old McSpreader had a farm,
Pee-u pee-u poo.
And on that farm he dished out muck,
Pee-u pee-u poo.
With a cow-pat here and a pig poo there,
Here a plop, there a plop,
Everywhere a ton of plops,
Old McSpreader had a farm,
Pee-u pee-u poo.
“Oh,” my ma says, “Oh, no no!”
“No no no no no!”
She says of washing on the line,
“It will smell of poo!”
She grabs a stinky towel here and a stinky sheet there,
Here a shirt, there a dress,
All of it a stinky mess.
“Oh!” my ma says, “oh, no no!”
“It all smells of poo!”
Old Green Grower spreads no muck,
No sal-mon-ell-a.
For her crops manure is green,
No e-coli either.
With clover here and mustard there,
Here some vetch, there some hemp,
Everywhere a lovely scent.
Old Green Grower spreads no muck,
Her fields are filled with joy 😀
*************
Green manure – so much better for us and the world than sewage, blood and bone from factory farms. Well duh!
Unnecessary Suffering
My flesh to you is unnecessary,
And my milk’s unnecessary for you,
So if none of these is necessary
Then my suffering’s unnecessary too.
******************
Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare‘s governing document states:
1.1 The objects of the charity are
(1) To prevent and relieve cruelty to animals and to protect them from UNNECESSARY SUFFERING and to promote and encourage a knowledge and love of animals and of their proper care and treatment.
and yet they serve meat, fish, dairy and eggs in their cafe.
Tell them they’re breaking their own laws!
Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare,
The Broyle, Ringmer,
East Sussex,
BN8 5AJ
Tel: (01825) 840252
info@raystede.org
And don’t forget to sign and share the petition 😀
Thank you 🙂
Listening to the mouse in the wall
I lay in bed listening
To the mouse in the wall.
He doesn’t know I’m here,
I think I’ll call him Paul.
****
He always comes at bedtime
To find his winter stash.
He must be very hungry,
Scratch and scrape and bang and bash.
It sounds just like marbles
That he rolls above my head,
But I think it must be nuts,
They sound loud when I’m in bed.
****
I’m glad Paul won’t go hungry,
He works hard for every bite,
But I wish he’d work the day shift
So I could sleep at night.
Plastic’s Not Fantastic
You know plastic’s not fantastic
And it might seem rather drastic
But the obvious solution
Is a New Year’s resolution
To give unfantastic plastic the heave-ho.
So that’s what we’ve decided,
We’re determined to be guided
By the needs of Earth and Earthlings
To be free of all plastic things,
So to all new things of plastic we say NO!
Check out our Plastic Avoidance Tactics 😀
A Handsome Fellow
Here is the fellow
I met yesterday,
I don’t know his name,
He didn’t say.
But he was so handsome,
So elegant was he,
I quietly admired him,
Or was he a she?
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Can somebody tell me – is he a partridge? And is he a he or a she?
Such a beauty 😀
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bird, birds, animals, wild animals, wildlife, garden, garden birds, poem, poetry
Animal Sanctuary Poem Week: Day 5
Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare
The Broyle, Ringmer, East Sussex, BN8 5AJ, UK
Tel: (01825) 840252
e: info@raystede.org
Today I saw some horrible men
Who were happy in their pursuit
Of rabbits with their tiny dogs
Who were sent down the holes by the brutes.
These horrible men, these are the type
Who work at the pig farm or kill shed.
They hang and they slash, they pluck and they chop,
And afterwards sleep sound in their beds.
And while they sleep, these horrible men,
Some nice people smile and are friendly.
At their fundraiser for a good cause
They eat ham rolls and beef ravioli.
Horrible men, paid by the masses,
To torture and batter and kill.
The coins in those brutal, blood-stained hands
Are from Raystede’s blood-stained till.
I’m so sorry to have to write such a sad poem when we were in such a happy place looking at the other sanctuaries this week, but for the animals’ sake I have to draw your attention to this again.
It’s true that there are many animal charities which confine themselves to working for just one, or a couple of species – eg Cats’ Protection, Dogs Trust – but Raystede never used to be one of these.
Their website used to display the slogan: “We believe that every animal has the right to health, happiness and freedom from suffering” but since this campaign started they have taken it down.
Raystede was started in the 1950’s by a woman, born in 1902, who had convictions and compassion as strong as those of the other sanctuary hosts we’ve met this week. She described herself as a ‘non-meat eater’ and, as she reiterated again and again, cared about ALL animals, without exception. Miss M Raymonde-Hawkins wrote in her book Sensible Pets and Silly People,
“My own view, and that of every decent minded person, is that no animal should be caused to suffer at all for any reason.”
and
“Too often our entertainment, our food, our clothing and so-called sport are all at the expense of animals and a civilised society in years to come will look back with horror at the way that we have exploited animals during this century.”
She concluded her book with:
“Those of us who have grown old in the work and who have so little to encourage us for the future welfare of animals can at least only hope that having carried the banner so far, we can, in falling, fling it to the hosts behind to carry on the work and hope that they will be more successful than we have been during this century.”
She died in 1998 and the “hosts behind” dropped the banner.
They betrayed her.
They betrayed the animals.
Roll up your sleeves guys, looks like this is gonna take a while.
Let’s Shawshank them!
We can do this.
For as long as it takes.
For the sake of back-to-front Grace and Archie No-Tail in Hugletts’ video, and all the billions of others, please join this campaign and tell Raystede to make their cafe vegan.
Write a letter a week (or email or phone call) until Raystede stops serving the products of animal cruelty.
Until they stop instigating unspeakable suffering.
Thank you so much.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Raystede Centre for Animal Welfare
The Broyle,
Ringmer,
East Sussex,
BN8 5AJ,
UK
Tel: (01825) 840252
e: info@raystede.org
Animal Sanctuary Poem Week: Day 4
Frettenham, Norfolk
Wendy Valentine’s amazing
Her firey compassion don’t stop blazing.
Her sanct’ry is home to many a horse,
It goes without saying, she’s vegan of course!
There’s chickens and ducks and budgies and turkeys,
And sheep and cows and llamas and donkeys.
There’s rabbits and emus, alpacas and deer,
There’s even some chipmunks and goats live here.
But rescuing’s not all that Hillside does,
They also investigate farms because
They need to make public the horror that’s hidden
Behind the farm gates of those animal prisons.
❤ 🙂 ❤
Hillside is now home to over 3000 animals and is one of the UK’s most successful campaigning organisations for the animals’ cause. They have always known that one of the main reasons animals are left to suffer in factory farms is because people have little or no idea about the immense cruelty involved in their food production.
Animal Sanctuary Poem Week: Day 1
Tower Hill Stables
Asheldham , Essex
Fiona Oakes and Martin,
They’re such a funny pair.
Like vegan superheroes
They’re running here and there.
At Tower Hills, their sanct’ry,
They never seem to stop.
They have so many rescues,
They work until they drop.
So look them up and you’ll see
The lovelies in their care,
And help them if you can please,
When you’ve got a bit to spare.
❤ 😀 ❤
The Tower Hill Stables team are currently trying to raise money to build a new enclosure for the poultry because of DEFRA rules that they have to be kept in over winter to prevent bird flu and they’ve been lucky enough to find a generous benefactor who has promised to match whatever they can raise towards this build. So, if you donate, say £10, the sanctuary will get £20! A great opportunity but it’s a limited time offer and the appeal must end 31st December 2017. Do help if you can 😀
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vegan, vegetarian, athlete, vegan athlete, animal sanctuary, animals, animal rescue, marathon running, marathon running.
A Little Sprite – again
Last night I saw a little sprite
Who told me what to do:
“Eat only plant food,
It’s much better for you.”
****
She fluttered and she floated
And she smiled down on me,
“Plant food is meant for you,
Just try it and you’ll see.”
****
I woke up and I sat up
And I looked from floor to beam.
I saw no sprite, there was no sprite,
She must have been a dream.
****
But still I could not shake her
Which was because, I knew,
She was real inside my head
And what she said was true.
Nutritious Still Life
My friend drew a still life
Which she wanted me to see.
She told me I’d like it
Because it’s good for me.
There’s vitamin A, vitamin K,
And of course vitamin C.
Potassium, phosphorus, magnesium,
Lycopene and manganese!
🙂
Remember Emmeline Rose?
I wrote a book
I wrote a book about some birds,
With pictures in and also words.
Brother birds who love each other,
And want to be free together.
The birds are turkeys, big and fat,
The farmer makes them fat like that.
He makes them fat to kill and eat,
For those who think they are just meat.
But they are not, they’re meant for more,
Christmas dinner’s not what they’re for.
They’re clever and they think and care,
They suffer too and that’s not fair.
So when I saw some library books
In which a family smiles and cooks
A big fat bird to celebrate
The Prince of Peace born on that date, …
I decided to put my book
On that shelf in the library nook.
A child might find it and read it and see
Turkeys deserve to be happy and free.
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There are so many books in libraries that perpetuate the illusion of the witch’s spell. Whether they be fiction or non-fiction, they tell children, at the most impressionable time of their lives, that some animals are “farm animals” and as such are there to serve our ‘needs’; that we ‘need’ meat and dairy and fish; that our health is dependent on these things; that animals are happy on farms and rearing animals to kill them is the most normal, natural thing in the world. It’s no wonder it’s an uphill struggle for those of us trying to share the truth:
- Animal farming is extremely cruel,
- Eating animal products is detrimental to our health
- Animal agriculture is by far the biggest cause of global warming, rainforest destruction and ocean deadzones.
- Going vegan is the only way to save the world.
Years ago I purchased a new copy of a Ruby Roth book and donated it to my local library. It never made it to the shelves of that or any other library in the county. They refused to include it. They rejected it.
Adults don’t listen. Children might 😉
NB: If you photocopy an insert from a different county library than the one you’re infiltrating, maybe with the word DISCARDED stamped on it, 
and a child finds and likes the book and wants to take it home, one of two things is likely to happen:
- The child puts the book, perhaps with a pile of other books, onto the automated check out machine and doesn’t notice the illegitimate book hasn’t registered on the system. They simply bag it and take it home.
Or
2. The child does notice the book hasn’t registered and takes it to the librarian who looks at it and says, “oh, this has been returned here by mistake, you can keep it”.
And just keep doing it, different books, different libraries, all with a positive vegan message that tells children they are right to follow their instinctive, compassionate natures and love all animals, not eat them. Most grown-ups are too stuck in their ways; too brainwashed. Communicating directly with children is the only way we’re going to change anything.
Go on, be a rebel – it’s kinda fun 😉
Fairy Tales Fairy Tales
It’s way past time for a new Fairy Tale and, since we’re approaching Halloween it’s the perfect time. So, on Monday, we’ll begin a scary new tale by Maud Earnshaw, illustrated by Beatrice Wilberforce:
The Wicked Witch’s Plan To Get Rid Of Everyone
Ooh, I’ve got shivers 😮
And, just to get you in the mood, here’s a poem (read it aloud, slowly) 🙂 :
“T-wit T-woo,” go the owls,
Sc-ratch and dangle, the spiders.
The witch is thinking, she frowns, she scowls,
New brooms fly by with riders.
***
A flickering light, the rising of smoke,
From the clearing, through the trees,
Gives away the location of quivering folk
Around the fire, on their knees.
***
In a fairy tale world with fairy tale rules
The wicked have much to fear.
They’ve been unkind, selfish, heartless fools,
Which won’t be tolerated here.
***
Fairy tales, creepy tales, mystical magic tales,
Castles and fairies and witches and ghosts.
Suspend disbelief for these ‘anything can happen’ tales,
Where innocents get rescued and evil gets smote.
See you Monday 😉
What? You don’t want to wait ’til Monday? Well, I wasn’t going to tell you this but …. ok, The Wicked Witch’s Plan To Get Rid Of Everyone was originally published with sinister black and white illustrations by the author and with the title The Wicked Wicked Witch and the Ruinous Manipulation – funnily enough it’s the story referred to in the video I showed you yesterday. Anyway, if you like it dark and sinister and don’t want to wait for Beatrice’s colourful version, you can read the story now at Maud’s place: https://thewickedwickedwitchandtheruinousmanipulation.com/
Have fun! 😮
Ode to Spike Milligan
Silly Verse FOR KIDS by Spike Milligan was one of my favourites as a child (I saved up for it with my pocket money and bought it from the village shop) and I still love it. So I decided to make something similar, full of funny, quirky poems: HUMANS ARE NOT OMNIVORES [poems your teacher might not like] (I decided not to beat around the bush with the title!)
Spike Milligan was a brilliantly irreverent vegetarian comedian and author who died in 2002 at the age of 83. He campaigned against factory farming and vivisection and was once thrown out of Harrods for trying to stuff 28lb of spaghetti down the mouth of the food hall manager because they sold pate de foie gras.
“I told him it might give him some idea of how a goose feels being force-fed maize” he said.
I modelled our new book on his, making it the same size and the same layout, so it’s only a little one – just 11cm x 18cm.
His is a Puffin book, published by Penguin. Ours is a Little Chicken book, published by Violet’s Vegan Comics 😉
And both are full of quirky, eccentric, funny poems for kids like ‘Mary Pugh’, above or a selection from Wacky Verse, examples below 😀
I hope Spike would have liked it. I hope you like it too.
All you kids who are sick of being told at school that humans are omnivores – this one is for you! 😀 😀 😀
New Year’s Resolution
I’ve a New Year’s resolution
Which may just be the solution
To the puzzle I’ve been puzzling in my head.
It’s a daring proposition
Which will suit my disposition
When I’m tired I’ll simply go early to bed.
Be Happy And Well
You’ve a right to be angry
But it won’t do no good
To shout at the man
Who eats animal food.
***
He may just laugh at you
Or shout at you back
But it won’t stop him eating
Of the wee piglet’s back.
Try to be friendly,
Smile and be warm.
Let him see your food,
Inspire reform.
Vegan food’s tasty,
Delicious and yum.
With no pus and no blood
It’s good for your tum.
***
So live by example,
Be happy and well.
It results in more progress
Than damning him to hell.
A Little Sprite
Last night I saw a little sprite
Who told me what to do:
“Eat only plant food,
It’s much better for you.”
****
She fluttered and she floated
And she smiled down on me,
“Plant food is meant for you,
Just try it and you’ll see.”
****
I woke up and I sat up
And I looked from floor to beam.
I saw no sprite, there was no sprite,
She must have been a dream.
****
But still I could not shake her
Which was because, I knew,
She was real inside my head
And what she said was true.
The Clock Ticks
Every day the clock ticks on,
Around us the moon, while we round the sun.
First Winter then Spring then Summer then Fall,
Through all time ticks on, disregarding us all.
****
Machines and gadgets that progress has brought
Fill homes and lives and contaminate thought.
It’s not progress for the Earth, our Mother,
Miraculous Nature whose gifts we plunder.
****
But She is resilient and could be returned
To Her former glory if lessons are learned.
If we could tread lightly, be gentle and kind,
The damage we’ve done might reverse and rewind.
Christmas Full Moon
The full moon shone down,
It was bright and round,
Through branches blacker than sky.
On the earth, soft and brown,
There was hardly a sound,
As Christmas night drifted by.
Be Kind To Every Animal
Be kind to every animal
And every bird as well.
Be nice to them, they’re beautiful
And don’t eat them or I’ll tell!
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
***
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
***
Those gentle souls of hoof and wing
Have done nothing to me.
I’d like for them to run and sing,
I’d love to set them free.
***
And then one day I realised
Exactly what to do.
I gave up meat and veganised
And you could do that too, oh ….
***
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
***
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
Um diddle diddle diddle, um diddle ay
***
I found that I did not miss out
On tasty things to eat.
My vegan meals without a doubt
Are much better than meat.
***
There’s sausage rolls and pies and flan
And chips and pizza too.
There’s cakes and sweets and marzipan
All cruelty-free for you, oh ….
***
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
How the meat gets to the plate is something quite atrocious,
Gentle souls are cruelly killed by humans so ferocious,
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
Emmeline Rose said ….
To see the story/rhyme bigger go to the Emmeline Rose page and read it in silence 😉
For more vids go to the vids page 😀
U is for unethical, unprincipled, unkind ….
Killing animals is unethical,
It’s unprincipled and unkind.
Eating meat is unhealthy,
***
So why do humans do it,
This unsightly unwholesome crime?
It’s unwarrantable, it’s unwarranted
And entirely unjustified.
The U page is right here, and the whole dictionary is just there 😀
Three Simple Rules
“Thou shalt not steal!”
Said Sam to Neil,
“You should not lie,”
Said Jane to Si.
“It’s wrong to kill,”
Said all to Jill
As she ate her big pork pie.
***
“I’d never steal!”
Replied cross Neil,
“I do not lie!”
Outraged was Si,
“I would not kill!”
Snapped back young Jill
As she swallowed piglet pie.
“Hee Hee” said the cow
“Hee hee” said the cow,
“Woo hoo” said the hen
“Hurrah!” said the sow
And the sheep cheered again.
“He did it!” they cried
As they skipped and they ran,
“Farmer’s eyes opened wide,
And he became vegan!”
And it’s true! It’s happening again and again!
Click here for some wonderfully moving true stories of animal farmers who awoke to the reality of what they were doing and completely turned things around 🙂
Life-Giving Force
Pop and crackle,
Fizz and bubble,
The witch stirs her cauldron
On the fire in her hovel.
***
She shrieks at the night
It will happen alright,
The life-giving force
Of her potion’s in sight.
***
It’s got onions and greens,
Carrots and beans,
There’s garlic and lentils,
She’s hungry and keen
To gobble it up,
From bowl and from cup,
The magic of plants
She’ll slurp and she’ll sup.
The Doctor Said
“He’ll soon be dead,”
The doctor said
As she stood at the end
Of her patient’s bed.
***
“He ignored my advice,
Never gave up his vice,
‘Those flesh foods will kill you’
I said more than twice.”
***
The nurse shook his head
As he straightened the bed,
“Avoidable suffering,
What a waste,” he said.
Touch the Earth
Touch the Earth
Feel the Earth,
In contact with your skin.
It just feels good
Like soft earth would,
And soothes you from within.
*****
Earthing: ” the practice of connecting the body with earth by touching skin to a conductive material such as grass (preferably wet), wet sand, a river, lake or sea. …… When the body loses contact with the earth it can carry a positive voltage relative to the Earth. Some people believe this is not good for health and wellbeing. Earthing the body returns the voltage to zero “
Nature Returns
When mankind retreats
And leaves abandoned,
Concrete slabs
And platforms hardened,
Nature returns
With soft root and stem
And swiftly reclaims
What was trampled by them.
She stretches and reaches,
She grows and she smothers
The cold ugly grey,
And with colour recovers.
Think To Question
It’s right to listen to teachers
When they tell a new fact to you,
But still you can keep an open mind
To consider if it’s true.
They say it is because they think it is,
But sometimes they’re mistaken.
Someone told them a long time ago
And they didn’t think to question.
The Bamboo Toothbrush Puppet Show
You can read I’ve got a bamboo toothbrush in Why are you a vegan? and other wacky verse for kids or here where you’ll also find links to how to get your own bamboo toothbrush 🙂
VVeC Productions Presents: Luke Walker and the Hypothetical Question
Spider in my shower cap
There’s a spider in my shower cap
And she doesn’t want to go.
She’s determined to hang on,
Whether I shake or whether I blow.
So I guess if it’s that important,
And she really wants to stay,
I don’t mind getting my hair wet.
It looks better on her anyway.
Chickens Are People Just Like Dogs
Chickens are people
Just like dogs.
They enjoy dust baths
And jumping on logs.
Chickens will play games
Like ‘chase’ and ‘steal your smalls’.
They’ll splash you in the paddling pool,
Though not keen on fetching balls.
Some of them are gentle,
Some of them are tough.
Some of them are bossy,
Some timid and soft as fluff.
They all have personality
And every one is different.
Just like Rover and Fido and Max
They might be quiet or exuberant.
Exciting News!
Our new book Why are you a vegan? and other wacky verse for kids is finished and ready to be enjoyed 🙂
It is a compilation of our favourite rhyming stories, wacky verse and nursery rhymes, providing over 100 pages of colourfully illustrated bedtime (or anytime) stories and rhymes for little ones.
It includes
and Where are you going Deidra?
Take a look inside:
[don’t worry, there’s a good comeback from Bertie on the next page 😉 ]
It is available from Amazon in the UK, Europe and the USA.
26 Verses of Deidra
Where are you going Deidra? is one of our favourite, and one of the most popular, stories on this site so when we decided to publish a compilation of short stories and rhymes for little ones we really wanted to include it. Unfortunately the new book – entitled “Why are you a vegan?” And other wacky verse for kids – is full of rhyming stories (of course), and Deidra is not one of those.
So, we made it into one – and here it is, the true-ish story of Deidra the dairy cow, in rhyme, in case you’re interested.
This is how it begins:
Once there was a dairy farm
With fifty lovely cows.
Most of them were black and white
But some of them were brown.
***
Gripping stuff I know! 😉
Where are you going Deidra? – In Rhyme
The Hungry Compost Bin
The compost bin was hungry
And it wanted something new.
It’d reduced old fruit and lettuce leaves
To gloopy, slimy goo.
“Enough with all the green waste,
For now I’ve had enough.
I need something dry and brown
Like paper and card and stuff!”
So strips of card were fed to it
And more and more and more,
‘Til finally an old paperback
Was swallowed whole and raw.
In a Fairy Tale World
“T-wit T-woo,” go the owls,
Sc-ratch and dangle, the spiders.
The witch is thinking, she frowns, she scowls,
New brooms fly by with riders.
***
A flickering light, the rising of smoke,
From the clearing, through the trees,
Gives away the location of quivering folk
Around the fire, on their knees.
***
In a fairy tale world with fairy tale rules
The wicked have much to fear.
They’ve been unkind, selfish, heartless fools,
Which won’t be tolerated here.
***
Fairy tales, creepy tales, mystical magic tales,
Castles and fairies and witches and ghosts.
Suspend disbelief for these ‘anything can happen’ tales,
Where innocents get rescued and evil gets smote.
Javier Culotte loved to wear shoes.
Javier Culotte loved to wear shoes,
He liked them in reds and he loved them in blues.
He sometimes wore tall ones, sometimes they were flat,
But none of them were leather, he made sure of that.
***
“Leather is not natural,” said Javier Culotte,
“It’s been tanned with dangerous chemicals.
The tanning makes sure the skin won’t rot,
So it’s not even bio-degradable.”
***
“The stink and the waste and the toxins from tanning,
Are not pleasant things to live by.
So most of it’s done a long way away,
In poor developing countries.”
***
“They use arsenic and cadmium, chromium and lead,
Mercury, nickel and cobalt.
They use copper and zinc, formaldehyde, nuf said,
Bad for feet, bad for health, bad by default.”
***
“These metals and dyes and organic compounds,
Are present in the leather.
They leak and may poison the skin of the wearer,
Through contact, through sweat, through blister.”
***
“It’s bad for the wearer and bad for the tanner,
And it’s carcinogenic to boot.
When dumped it poisons the Earth and ground water
So wearing it’s not too astute.”
***
“Whatever you want there’s no need for concern,
Vegan footwear has come a long way.
It has the style and function and quality you yearn,
For everything you need day to day.”
Bikers and workers who shun leather gear
Opt for armoured, steel toe-capped synthetics.
They feel safe in their weather-proof, hi-viz gear
Made from quality, long-lasting fabrics.
***
Javier Culotte loved to wear shoes,
He liked them in reds and he loved them in blues.
He sometimes wore tall ones, sometimes they were flat,
But none of them were leather, he made sure of that.
****
Sources:
http://www.inspirationgreen.com/toxins-in-leather-shoes.html
http://www.peta.org/issues/animals-used-for-clothing/leather-industry/leather-environmental-hazards/
Vegan shoes:
http://www.vegetarian-shoes.co.uk/
Vegan Motorcyclist:
http://www.bebenroth.com/vegan%20motorcyclist/motorcyclist.html
http://www.peta.org/living/fashion/cruelty-free-gear-vegan-motorcyclist/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vegan-Motorcyclists/129648463741351
Isn’t it a yucky thing?
Why would you wear leather?
It’s cow skin you know,
Or goat skin or calf skin,
Or even kangaroo.
Why would you want to wear someone else’s skin?
Isn’t it a yucky thing to put your body in?
Everyone should have the right, if they have no other,
To keep their own skin fully attached, not have it worn by another.
Come rhyme with me
First these little gems by the lovely Barry Wax:
“You will eat anything,” said the cow to the Billy Goat.
“Not at all,” the goat burped with the flavor of the shoe on his lips.
The cow munched on the cud and thought the remark over.
“I am not sure who is worse in habits, you or the pig?”
The pig looked up offended. “I admit I eat slop but the goat will eat the buttons off a coat and then the coat.”
“I have you all beat said the human. I will eat the goat, the cow and the pig.”
The three nodded in fear for they realized the human was the worse and hoped he would not pick one of them for dinner.
Fortunately goosey came by and within seconds became the bon appetite for the night.
****
The vegetable from outer space never eat meat.
And so the human race was not the dish it meant to eat.
The vegetable from outer space was reddish in color,
It had seven eyes, four ears and a dozen tiny, tiny feet.
The vegetable from space had blood the color of blue,
It breathed oxygen and gave out CO2 and in the air flew.
The vegetable from space had a high IQ and came for peace,
It landed in the city and a homeless man fined him and did eat.
No more vegetable from outer space, no more savior of mankind,
For the homeless man the vegetable from outer space was food and there was no meal line.
****
What is an olive?
It is a fruit from an evergreen tree.
It has yellow flowers.
It makes olive oil.
There are green olives and black olives.
It has the good fat.
It fights heart disease.
I like it in my salad.
I like it on my pizza.
Olives are great.
****
The pair of pears were juicy.
The melon ripe and moist.
The watermelon was sweet.
With the fruit we rejoice.
The energy flowed through us,
It was vital and strong.
We harmed nothing in this post,
We are like the earth reborn.
****
A salad is on my mind.
Crispy lettuce of any kind.
Cucumber sliced and scattered around.
A few placed olives to be found.
A celery stalk on both sides.
A cream sauce moving like the tides.
A slice of pickle.
To make my mouth tickle.
My taste buds tingle and wait,
Got to eat that salad, it looks first rate.
Thanks Barry 🙂
And this next poem, about the joy of the world around us and our connection to it,
was written by Tokoni Uti who also wanted to join in.
Earth Poem
We are eating from the womb of the earth.
We are celebrating the patriots of birth.
We are dancing in her familiar rain.
And harvesting herbs for the healing of pain
The wrath of the sun kisses our shoulders.
And the caresses of the wind are getting bolder.
The whispers of the wind cries in our ears.
The call of the sea embraces our fear.
Thanks for your contribution Tokoni 🙂
