Kind Poems, by Cherie Hans, VLCE

posted January 18, 2022

I majored in English because it was the subject that interested me the most. Upon reading Hamlet in high school, I was captured by my teacher’s interpretation. However, in college, analyzing poetry baffled me.

Robert Frost’s The Mending Wall was the first poem I was asked to dissect. Unfortunately, my professor failed to tell me that, as a freshman, none of my thoughts mattered; I was supposed to regurgitate what she, and the experts, had to say about the poem. That turned me off completely.

All this  changed while listening to Victoria Moran’s Main Street Vegan Podcast with guest, Gretchen Primack, the author of Kind Poems, on March 17, 2021. Victoria told Gretchen that “people are afraid of poetry,” and Gretchen responded, “There is too much poetry out there that warrants those kinds of feelings when we hear the p-word.” She added that she doesn’t like to read nor does she write those kinds of poems. “There are all different kinds…the kind over everybody’s head gets the bad rap.”

I bought two copies of Kind Poems on Amazon immediately. Not only is it beautifully written, but the imagery is vivid and the words are understandable. And it is not pushy or preachy, how omnivores sometimes view vegans.

I find the videos of factory farming to be overwhelming and upsetting. I know what goes on; I just don’t want to see it. But there are many ways to make the ethical connection—books, videos, podcasts, and now Gretchen Primack’s poetry.

The book’s cover reiterates what we already know: eating dogs would be considered abhorrent. We know that pigs are more intelligent than dogs, yet people still eat them. The artwork asks us to make the connection and ask ourselves, “What if we saw pigs in the same way as our domesticated pets?”

Victoria asked Gretchen, “How did you get to be a poet?” Gretchen replied, “Even poets who have a big fan base—even ones who are quite popular—teach. They would put ‘professor’ rather than ‘poet’ on their tax forms.’” She added that she continued writing poetry, never quitting her day job, finally going to grad school for poetry and making it more central in her life.

Gretchen teaches college-level creative writing and poetry in prisons. Colleges partner with correctional facilities so inmates can obtain degrees. Gretchen says it is a real pleasure. As a fellow teacher, I am impressed and applaud her work as an educator. It is admirable.

Victoria inquired, “What parallels do you see between people in prison and animals on farms?” Gretchen stated, “Both have power differentials; people lording over others because they’re seen as lesser. Cages in both circumstances. We like to cage what we don’t want to see or don’t understand.”

Here is a poem from the book (with permission from the publisher and the author):

                                EGG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Embryo, protein, box, circle, symbol. It came first,
came after, round riddle; proto, almost, plasm.

A hen with wire under her feet, wire at her beak, beak
sliced, wire just above and behind feathers fallen like hair

fallen in bundles, thickets, clumps. Packed in like us packed
In an elevator that will never move again. It smells like that.

It feels like that. Blister it on the gas. Feed on it.
It makes us who we are.

If you want to read, rather than watch, about animals in a poetic way, I highly recommend Kind Poems. It would make a fabulous treat for yourself, a great gift for an animal enthusiast, or an indulgent poetry aficionado. If you want an author-signed copy, go to gretchenprimack.com/kind.php.

 

Cherie Hans holds certifications from Dr. McDougall’s Starch Solution and Dr. Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition programs. She holds a Master of Science in Bilingual Education from St. John’s University, NY, and a Bachelor of Arts from the City University of NY: Queens College in English and Spanish and currently teaches adults in English as a Second Language. After graduating from Main Street Vegan Academy, Cherie started Fit and Fifties Vegan. She is from Queens, New York, but now resides in New Jersey with her husband and many rescued cats.