The V Word

 

It’s that look of surprise

Yes that one

And I’ve come to expect it

The anticipation

The absolute awkwardness that follows

You raise a brow

Oh!  you say

Biding time

Wondering how to respond to this

Confession

My truth: There it is

On the table

I am exposed now

All my colours laid bare

I am one of them

 

May we continue?

Perhaps not

Perhaps our differences are too great

 

You are thinking it already

Aren’t you

But where do you get your protein?

 

Once, I would feel myself blush

Embarrassed and somehow ashamed

By the social problem I had become

It was hard

Because you were hard

To convince, every time we had this conversation

 

Every

Time

You ask all the questions

And state

All the insulting justifications

About why you are not like me

And why I am wrong

And why I must be sick

 

And while you may have this one off chat

Then tell it later

An amusing anecdote

To jeering friends

Or colleagues with rolling eyes

I have this ‘chat’ every day

To justify my actions

And explain my beliefs

 

As if they need excusing…

 

But time has matured me

And you have strengthened me

Every time you questioned me

And I stuck to my guns.

Now I feel the pride

The purity that comes

From a life of compassion

 

So where do you get your protein?

There

You said it.

I draw my breath;

From plants  I say.

No!  you say,  like actual protein?

Yes.  I get.  Actual.  Protein.

 

But our teeth can eat meat  you say

We were born to eat animals

Yes our teeth can eat meat, sure

Cats eat meat too

But I’ve not seen a cat use a knife and fork

Or a cooker

Eat as a lion eats and I shall concede

You are right

You were born to eat animals

 

And cheese!  you gush

I couldn’t live without cheese

I think that literally you could

But you think you couldn’t

So I hold my tongue

 

And Oh! Sweet honey!

And milk and eggs!

You do realise they don’t actually die for those things don’t you?

Yes.  I realise.

But I also realise that many do

And millions more painfully suffer.

For the things we do to fill our boots:

To those cows,

And chickens,

And Oh! Yes honey – even the bees

Are unnatural

And unforgivable

But I hold my tongue

 

My Brain aches

I recompose

I’d love to go into it now  I say

But I think it’s time to order…

Yes please

Baked Potato and salad

Just beans please

 

There.

Not so weird after all was it?

 

 

© H M Edwards 2015. All Rights Reserved.

To see more of my work, please visit A Thousand Words, a writer’s platform hosted by Cursor Studios featuring original work from all our resident writers.

 

AUTHOR’S NOTE:

I am currently practising becoming a much less passive vegan.

I believe it is important to have this conversation whenever possible.

However, I am only just learning how to conduct myself in the face of opposition and remembering enough information each time to back myself up.

Because lets face it; to defend your vegan (and/or raw) lifestyle choice you need to know your facts.

I find the longer I have been living this way, the easier it gets to handle – because increasingly, I can simply use my own body as a testimonial. And I’m doing okay. No one yet has denied I look healthy.

This piece is a nod towards what I’ve found to be the hardest thing about being the change I want to see in the world.

When people say that it must be so hard, or it must be so restricting, I find that it really isn’t.

I’m thriving.

The thing that is hard is holding my head up when I’m being put down.

But unless we continue to hold our heads high, there is no one else to show the way.

Stay strong, and stay true to yourself.

Thank you for reading.

Haylee-Mai