Too Many Cooks, Not Enough Butchers

a blood feud.

“Many a knife to cut the meat:

But there, not one to make it.

Ample, too, the loaves to eat:

Though none with bone to break it.

A multitude, the jelly mops,

Awash upon the floor:

Aghast at how the river drops,

Turn putty at the door.

If one should wish to pull the teeth

And call themselves renewed,

You must excuse the disbelief

That I should chew your food.”

Author's Note

Translated from Master Wong Bok’s ‘Singing Meat Axe’.
At a kitchen warehouse, by the wall where hung a hundred knives, at least, and when asked for a "skinning knife" the wholesaler knew not what it was...
"Hmm..." thought Master Wong Bok, and promptly enquired: "You eat meat, yes?"
"Ofcourse", was the reply.
""Hmm... And you cut your meat?"
"Indeed"
"Hmm.. But you never made the meat? You know: kill the animal?"
They shook their head emphatically: "Oh, no! We could never...Nuh-uh!"
Perplexed, and without his skinning knife, Master Wong Bok left the store and landed in the middle of a protest group shouting: "Meat is murder! Meat is murder!"
It was a warm day in L.A., and Master Wong Bok, having been born and raised in Greenland, thought that a damning and unfair charge: "Meat is life", thought he. Out of curiosity, he asked the small, though militant group: "I'm a cook and I would like to buy some produce: does any one here grow any produce?" The protestors turned around and left... No, they didn't actually do that. They did something else, instead.

Reviews

[Beccy]

Self sufficiency increasingly becomes little more than background noise, a vague notion hidden behind neon lit supermarket shelves and gadgets that do it all. Soon perhaps, there will be no more knife wielders, only spoon feeders.

Aside from the message, the poetical construction of this is superb.

Beccy.

[charlie]

Thanks, Beccy. I appreciate your encouragement.

[Lyn Anderson]

How interesting. Very much reflects many of our attitudes today, and need not only apply to meat, or farming, but to anything we don't know how to do, from computer programming to the fine art of grammar. :) what happens when everyone who knows that stuff is not around?

[charlie]

That's a good question, Lyn. Well, there's two questions really: what happens if society were totally cultureless? And second: what happens if individuals who comprise society are totally without fundamental life skills? Much to ponder...

[BonnyRivers]

As a lifelong vegetarian raised on a farm this resonates. Masterfully written

[charlie]

I appreciate your visit, Bonny. Thank you.

[Lorry]

I love this, and the authors note on the inspiration. It says more than we care to think of ourselves and our flaws. Even in the modern day, it screams about consumerism and leaving the dirty jobs for others to think about...just as long as we never have to run out of anything and have instant access to everything, never giving a thought to the reasons such things can be done. It is the same answer throughout history, other peoples suffering.
Beautifully worded, it lingers in our thoughts after being read. Hopefully it will give some of us food for thought.

[charlie]

To be fair, it would be hard these days to escape the fact of a little hypocrite free-loading in us all. I raise my hand first on that one. Lorry, I thank you kindly for taking time once more to visit my way. I appreciate that.

[Lorry]

You are welcome. I am guilty too, but shh! :)