Virtually the same

I'm lucky, to've never been
discriminated against due to skin
or religion;

being Vegan is not ingrained
as fingerprints of litany
a patina of heritage in me -
I'm from a meat at every meal home
and Mum reckons I'm Vegan
to be "bloody minded"
I remember Dad holding me down
as she forced the congealing
Sunday roast into my mouth
for though I'm her daughter
for me ought'a's thicker than blood

I'm not Vegan to be "good"
It's not a "sin" to eat fish, animals
and what they produce:
at convent school we were tought
Christ preached the negation
of pleasure is a plus point
in Life's test : you pass on
to eternal life or fail falling to hell.
Lent is for our souls' benefit
not that of our fellow Eden exiles:
animals don't go to Heaven -
we've no need of food there

Getting to know someone
on the internet, it doesn't seem
such a problem till we meet.

You can see the point
in being healthy, but this is NOT;
you know "lots of veggies
who eat fish, some even chicken,
let alone cheese
so why can't YOU?"

and I feel selfish for being difficult,
worry I'll make you guilty, spoil
your meal, yet all the same
wish I could persuade you
of my side, so try to explain
WHY
cheese is just as bad,
for dairy and meat
are symbiotic "industries":
a calf taken
too young from his mother,
fattened scientifically
while she produces
unnatural quantities of milk
for one she barely got to know
but long enough to bellow
the pain of their separation.

But unlike animals I have a choice
and make it non negotiable
as road blocks : cook my own food
or check packets.
Eating out needs a bit of thought.
(I don't mind watching
people eating cheese
eggs and cream,
know I'm extreme)

I like people who are tolerant,
liberal, make me laugh,
but I've no sense of humour
about this, am a bigot
because I can't understand
how someone I like could not
and it makes it worse to see
the walls that seperate me
from everyone else
were here, all the time
but seeming even taller now
as I'd got closer without knowing
we were only virtually the same