Was it a dust mop?

Was it a monster under my sofa?

Was it the Bradford’s Pekingese?

Was there something else,

besides a polio vaccine,

in that sugar cube?

Paul and Vi had a Pekingese.

It looked like a dust mop.

Dust mops are mass produced,

and so are Pekingese.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/twodolla/3478758772/

Puppy millers,

grinding down prehistoric relationships,

making everything appear as chaff.

Animal rights activists,

grinding down prehistoric relationships,

assuming everything is chaff.

A stripper plays with a tiger,

so I need a permit,

for a deer the size of a dog,

Dad wouldn’t let me have a monkey,

The Bradford’s had one.

It pooped on Paul’s head.

The Bradford’s had a Pekingese.

It looked like a dust mop.

You don’t need a permit,

to have a Pekingese,

you can even breed them,

without a permit.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/itsgreg/3285594146/

Dogs and cats,

Cats and dogs,

horses and cows,

rabbits and goats,

and sheep.

The dime store had toucans,

cappuccinos and squirrel monkeys.

Dime stores turned into dollar stores,

no more pets,

just cheap dust mops,

and pet stores are still

selling puppy mill puppies.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/publicdomainphotos/3953917136/

All you need is a license,

no home inspection,

no farm inspection,

no red tape to get a permit,

the gears are in place.

Who determines what pets are ethical?

Who determines who we choose,

as companions?

People seeking ethical treatment for animals,

seems to me as a statement devoid of ethics.

The phrase smacks of humanity’s superiority complex.

Humans are animals you fool,

we are not separate from other creatures,

nor should we separate from them,

humans and animals have lived together,

since prehistory,

not just dogs and cats,

Animals rights started as a performance art piece.

It has gotten out of hand.

a creation of two animal haters,

by their own admission.

Grinding down prehistoric relationships,

making everything chaff.

Puppy millers making puppies,

nothing more than a product,

not much more than,

a dollar store dust mop,

made somewhere outside of Beijing.

Pekingese dogs have always reminded

me of dust mops.

Then again maybe there was something,

besides a polio vaccine in that sugar cube?

Dollar stores smell like formaldehyde,

Breeding Bitches are afraid of grass.

That’s not a sugar cube hallucination.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/uwehermann/132244825/

One of my first memories is a combination of going to get a polio vaccine in the form of a sugar cube and then seeing these little creature behind a sofa, I could fall into the paranoia of children of the Sixties thinking that sugar cube was some CIA black operation causing hallucinations or I could be rational about it and remember going to Paul and Violet Bradford’s house and seeing their Pekingese behind their sofa or my mother sweeping with a dust mop under our sofa. The Bradford’s also had a pet squirrel monkey that they bought at the Kresge’s dime store in Flint, Michigan. My sister and I of course also wanted a pet monkey but our dad would not get us one. In retrospect we might like to think our father was being responsible, however, if the truth be known the reason he would not get us a pet monkey had nothing to do with the ethics of pet ownership.

This incident with the Pekingese though has left me with the memory echo that Pekingese dogs look like dust mops. This poem is about that and about my beliefs on exotic pets vs so-called normal pets. Instead of targeting exotic pets and their owners wholesale, I believe fair laws should be in place for all pet ownership. After all, if people can care for an exotic pet more responsibly than other can care for cats and dogs they should be allowed to choose that pet as their companion without ridiculous red tape and their should be stricter red tape for breeders of dogs for instance. Puppy mills make all dogs they breed nothing more than a product like a dust mop, where as some exotic pet breeders and owners give their charges more respect and better care.