Prompt: This Dusshehra, what would you like to rid your life of?

My entry was adjudged a winner.

 

As the curtains descend on the autumnal festive cheer

I pray for a planet where our fauna lives without fear.

 

Where a mewling elephant calf isn’t wrenched away from its herd

To train for rituals, circus and safari, while its bleeding wounds lie uncured.

 

Where captive dolphins do not choke in chemically treated waters

Their teeth filed, skin bruised, hearing breached – just to rake in the dollars.

 

Where apes, tigers and reptiles are not drugged into stupor

Nor sea turtles made into photo props, to fuel the selfie horror!

 

Together, let us purge our souls of all apathy and greed

And quell the forces that threaten or abuse any voiceless breed.