Poem- "Talking Animals"

“Talking Animals”

Somehow in our universe the humans get language while

desiring great, extraordinary gifts for opinions.  And, as such,

people over the years have given names to their pets

and kept them in captivity for care and safety.  It should of

ended there.  However, we’ve gone beyond giving names

to cats and dogs: we have bred them into exaggerated forms,

taken their liberties in question, managed their bones and hairballs

on pretense of their virtue towards us by infiltrating statements

which seal their lips and mouths together in human expression.

We’re the ones who say that dogs “bark” and cats “meow”;

nonetheless, the animals never said those human words.

From our confusion and diligence of vocal expressions we have

put words into their mouths- the dog “says” he wants bacon,

the cat “says” she needs a nap, the parrot “says” Polly wanta 

cracker, a mouse “says” humans are cruel, all this and more

according to our free will, which might as well be irrational

organization on the favorable ideas and imaginary quotes just mentioned.

A dog can’t speak.  A cat can’t speak.  However, we “make”

them speak!  We give them funny faces with our vain

gadgets, we give them funny looks by addressing technology.

Never mind that maybe animals have their own words.

Maybe a dog doesn’t want to say “bark”.  Maybe a cat doesn’t

want to take a nap; as it so happens, the nap could’ve just

been the curse received every Monday like Garfield’s.

But since when have coyotes been dealing with bad girls?

Since when have mice actually wanted to leave their cages

and enter the cruel, ugly world?  Do parrots eat crackers?

I don’t know.  But I know I shouldn’t “make” them say what

I want them to say: if they can’t talk, they can’t talk.  Besides,

why not interpret a lion’s attitude and speech in a blue whale’s 

language or even give hyenas a chance to laugh and cry out loud?

Something has been confused, I’m getting sick of it.  Why does

everybody want pets to express human words?  Understanding

itself is evolutionary- the call of the wild, the roar and majesty

of disposition, the curiosity in a whisper; why not let THEM

give their understanding?  Now look here.  Humans are only

right as far as they’re able to be right.  I’m sure a lion is patient,

but that’s only from my vocal expression over this imagination

I’m stuck with.  I don’t speak hyena; I don’t speak parrot; I don’t

speak frog.  There’s more animals than humans.  Why should my

words be put in their mouths?  Maybe the dog is just saying,

“Scratch my butt.”  Maybe he means, “The best fur is on

my head.”  That’d make sense to us; we’ve turned dogs into

different nations of dogs, we’ve turned cats into different nations

of cats, as long as we’re breeding them and humiliating their

natural figures with poodle-looks and dumb bulldog stuff.

Does a cat KNOW she’s a cat?  Maybe she thinks she’s somebody else,

or, maybe even nothing at all.  She licks her fur without

explaining her actions.  So what’s my language got to do with a

cat’s tongue?  For one thing, my tongue is bigger than hers!

My butterfingers help me write material that’s foreign to these

creatures on Earth.  A cat and trigonometric expressions?  Not

even a chance!  Cats don’t know what Monday is.  And dogs,

no matter how many times they lick you and go “woof”, may

not exactly love us.  I think they’d probably eat us if they were big

enough.  Really, I’m sick of all these dumb cat videos on YouTube,

and cows don’t need to hear us make fun of them before they’re

slaughtered for 99-cent hamburgers.  Okay, I guess we could have

some fun, but how much fun should we make of these wordless,

limited herds?  

By our expressions we make animals talk to our liking. Thus far

I’ve been sarcastic and silly on all this stuff, even if the

readers might disagree about our nature for things.  Granted,

animals need humans around them.  We can’t abandon other

animals for one second!  No, there has to be fun and entertainment

where boredom sets in, since cats and dogs fight each other

sometimes and make a big deal of mirrors.  Once upon a time,

my dog “Maggie” (I gave her that name) barked at a Celtic

goddess antique I kept on mom’s organ.  The antique looked human:

eyes, hips, nose, etc.  Well, Maggie went ballistic.  She couldn’t

understand that it was art, not even when I held the antique

in front of her and eventually made her stop barking.  Critics

in the human world often oppose art, either for humans

or for animal instinct.  Given enough time we probably

have to put words in our pets’ mouths when we’re interested

in their behaviors.  A human expression placed for an animal’s 

behavior can be very much a thing of beauty, of art, of elegance,

and so much more.  But let’s give them time to speak, okay?