Of Swans and Slaves
Brought here against their will, to be useful, to give their life for the betterment of those who would come to despise them, to die alone in the heartless world which refuses to make room for them; used up, useless, left like road kill without the mercy of compassion, one man’s bright idea, from the bitterest of roots (I know for a fact a woman didn’t introduce Mute Swans from Europe. Who came up with the idea of slavery is beyond my memory but I’ll bet a ton of money it wasn’t a woman).
Now the swans are “Invasive”, they don’t belong here. Unloved, unwanted, unprotected, guilty of innocence, as I was (my father told me I was a mistake). Who brought them here to “prettify” the ponds? Round them all up, the entire country of swans, and dump them on his lawn. The time has come for consequences to circle back home and roost. Your fabulous ideas, your misbegotten rallies, cause mayhem, and you must be held accountable. There’s no defending the “good intentions” of what turns out to be not so good.
These swans are my family. Their children are my own. They didn’t ask to come here, I didn’t ask to be born. I am not a mistake and they aren’t, either. We do this US against THEM duality thing so blindly, we aren’t aware we’re doing it. Ducks are ok because they originated in these parts. Kill the swans and save the ducks. White people are ok because, well, everyone says so and we were here first (actually we weren’t. Don’t get me going on what we’ve done to indigenous people, under the banner of “progress”). White people caring about White people and nothing and no one else has come to its ugly end, if we are to survive as a whole, intact species. This picking and choosing who to care about and why is ridiculous and childish. Every sentient being on this planet needs our compassion and our care. Without exception. Without excuses. We stand together or die alone.
LBM 9/1/2021
