Partly out of my sympathy for animals

By X. Z. Shao

Partly out of my sympathy for animals,
partly out of my own health’s concern,
I am now almost a vegetarian,
not for any religious reason,
or repulsive to meat.
In fact I still eat meat
when I dine out with friends
at the teachers’ cafeteria here
where you can eat however much you want
with a small fixed sum of money.
I must say I seldom indulge myself.
On rare occasions I did,
I ate a little too much.
With meat of a few kinds
stuffing my stomach,
my vegetarian digesting system
protested against my little greed.
The tiny greed drew me down.
What would be a case with a big one?
I resolve to let it go,
but it tightly grips me.
I know it is difficult for you too,
and this tiny greed of an ant
will dig us all a tunnel to the world under.

          Evening, November 21, 2010