Wounded

Wounded As the little toad dragged his wounded limb I watched unobserved from a nearby clump of grass As a child I felt saddened to see any animal hurt Even more so than an injured human I felt guilty in my childlike mind thinking this way As if my thought had crossed some forbidden boundary And voiced would certainly bring adult disapproval Grown ups being more knowledgeable and wiser about such things Contemplating the injury one human knowingly inflicted upon another Somehow made humankind inexcusable So I felt justified in my thinking Knowing that this alone made the difference I suppose I adopted this outlook from my father As he preferred the company of animals to humans And talked about them with a higher regard This became something I later disowned He cherished his animals more than his own offspring Somehow this made him inexcusable So I felt justified in my thinking Knowing that this alone made the difference