Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Pets and Safe Bets

I sit and watch out my window how people treat their pets;
This vicarious viewing of other people's lives gives me no regrets.
I think it is good training to have pets before you have kids
This probably would have been better than the way my first husband and I did.
I had always thought that pets could take care of themselves,
Like the stuffed animals that many kept upon their shelves.
The father of my children thought pets should be kept outside
To only be paid any attention if something made them cry.
We were quite the pair to bring children into the world:
A boisterous little boy and a sweet, sensitive baby girl.

It is a source of constant amazement that humans continue to survive
With all the efforts we make sabotaging that for which we say we strive.
Chickens, cows, and horses have more attention paid to breeding
Than those in whom we are, our own genetics, repeating.
There is an accepted adage in lesser animal husbandry
That the offspring will only thrive if the mother is stress free.
Yet we continue to allow breeding women to be abused by their mates
As if this has no effect on their gestating children's fates.
If people can't be bothered to train and care for their helpless pets,
Their children becoming something other than wild animals is not a safe bet.