“Xiongmao” I am a baby panda bear living in the wild, I live in small areas of inland China, With varieties of fresh bamboo shoots, In cold damp forests, With rivers and mountains, Rivers to drink from, I can eat fresh bamboo shoots everyday, The whole year, through. Yet there is not much space for bamboo to grow, No large spaces of renewable bamboo shoots, Bamboo shoots we need to survive, For there is not much space for us, To survive, For we will starve to death. We have to fight for our survival, From the farmers, Who work the mountain forests and rivers? Where we live, Reducing our habitat, For farming lands, For timber to grow, For man needs to expand to, Into, the wilderness. My family are torn apart, Through the activities, Of poaches who hunt us for our pelts, They turn our fur into bed mats, As they believe it creates spiritual benefits, For the sleeper. When the poachers came, On that sad day, We were eating the new bamboo shoots, My mommy and daddy tried to protect us from harm, They tried to move away out of harms way, In a slow trot Yet my little leggies could not keep up, The poaches guns were just to powerful, They shot my mommy and daddy before my very eyes My brothers and sisters where taken too! I was captured and taken away, At an early age, My teeth were smashed out with an iron bar, They pushed a red hot iron needle through my muzzle, The wound would never be allowed to heal, Followed by a thick course rope, That they could control me with, I was forced to dance for the tourists, In the markets, On the streets, For the dollar, pound and euro too, I am forced to live a life of hunger, A life of pain, I’m tied to a stake, For the rest, of my life. Can you protect me from this Abuse? Can you protect others like me? Can you help stop this abuse? From happening to bears worldwide, Like me, For I too would like to be free, Living in the mountains and in the forests, Eating bamboo, Growing old with my family, In the wild, Living Free, Forever And Not on the Endangered Species List. ©Christopher R. Azzie, 2008
Posted on: Fri, 25 Oct 2013 16:19:52 +0000
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