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Annotated by:
- Coulehan, Jack
- Date of entry: Nov-29-1999
Summary
The poet expresses pity for all the poor, poor animals--for dogs, for mice, for earthworms, even for the "protozoons / that sway their cilia / so desperately." On the other hand, "patients / with progressive amyotrophic lateral sclerosis can just / fuck off." They should go live in the world of Hieronymus Bosch. [21 lines]
Miscellaneous
Translated by David Young and Dana Habrova.
Primary Source
Vanishing Lung Syndrome
Publisher
Oberlin College Press
Place Published
Oberlin, Ohio
Edition
1990
Commentary
This piece is sharply ironic. It seems to be saying that animal rights folks love animals more than they love people, especially sick people. This is especially relevant to medical research. Why harm the poor animals by developing an animal model for degenerative neurological disease? Who cares about patients with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis)? "They shouldn't have been born."