VEGANGELICA

Yes, I do like folk music, too, and I will work on the guitar part for "Africa" to go with the tune I have for it, but this last weekend I found myself drawn to figure out the guitar part for the next song, "Might," instead.

"Might" is based on several facts:

(1) In the late 1800s many scientists believed non-human animals had no feelings and were like machines, and so did vivisections on dogs without pain medication while the dogs were alert (leading, of course, to excruciating deaths).

(2) Today pig producers in the U.S. continue to advocate killing young piglets by blunt trauma, claiming this is "humane."

(3) Humans often experience being weak and powerless for the first time when they become victims of neglect in nursing homes.

THE MUSIC RATING SYSTEM rating for "Might" is SR for "Sadly, based on Reality." In addition, "Might" may have the dubious distinction of being one of the few songs in existence that use the word "teat."

EDIT: Breaking news! I have just learned, upon reading through older MB poetry collections, that none other than our very own TERRIBLE LIZARD has used the word "teat" in his first poem, "Cry in the Bright," posted in his "TL's Guidance for the Depraved and Lascivious" collection!!! Since I am currently having a rather one-sided love affair with Terrible Lizard's avatar (sigh), I am delighted to learn that its master has at least one word choice that is the same as mine, even if this means that "Might" loses the MB contest for the first use of the word teat in a creative work.

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“MIGHT” by Erica

A little puppy is sitting beside you
in a school for surgeons one hundred twenty years ago.
The teachers are laughing because they’re going to
do the vivisection and it’s your first time to see the show.

It’s like a clock, they say, as they spreadeagle
the puppy, now wimpering, upon the slab.
It’s like striking a gong, they say, as they make the first cut,
and the puppy’s howling fills the lab.

(One two three four)
And you’re running out the door.
You just can’t take it anymore.
The horrifying sight
as people torture others with their might
because you know

Might doesn’t make right.
They ought to know it’s true.
Might doesn’t make right.
Someone’s always stronger than you.

A little runt of a pig in a modern farm today
is trying to push her way to her mother’s teat.
The law allows you to use blunt trauma
to kill the young of animals people eat.

“Oh, what the heck,” the workers say, getting ready
to beat her, “I can and so I will.
It doesn’t matter whose life we take. It doesn’t matter
as long as it's not our own blood we spill.”

(One two three four)
And you’re running out the door.
You just can’t take it anymore,
the horrifying sight
as they bash the piglet squealing in fright
because you know

Might doesn’t make right.
Why don’t they know it’s true?
Might doesn’t make right.
Someone’s always stronger than you.

“The only feelings I feel are mine,” they say.
“Why should I care what you are going through?
So what if you enjoy your life, love the air, the sun,
your mother’s closeness...tell me something new.”

“I give you food,” they say, though you can’t get away
and your life for food...oh yeah, that’s a fair exchange.
Or if you’re wild, they say, “At least you get to live outside
for a while on the grassy range.”

Of course, you’d live a longer life
if they didn’t kill you now.
I doubt they want to die,
so why don’t they see how

Might doesn’t make right.
Why don’t they know it’s true?
Might doesn’t make right.
Someone’s always stronger than you.

It’s in the future now. They’re old,
lying in some care center’s dingy bed.
They’ve lost the ability to speak and reason well,
but they feel and must be fed.

Someone who has no love for them
is paid to clean the filth when they soil the sheet.
They can’t escape their fate and the sickening smell,
but all attempts to leave end in defeat.

(One two three four)
And they want to run out the door.
They just can’t take it any more...
each horrifying night
they wake, confined, no salvation in sight
and now they know

Might doesn’t make right.
Why didn’t they know it’s true?
Might doesn’t make right.
Someone’s always stronger than you.

Stronger than you.
Don't you see it? Someone's always stronger than you.
Stronger than you.
Don't you know it? Someone's always stronger than you.
Stronger than you.
Don't you get it? Someone's always stronger than you.
Stronger than you.