RabbitCare

K I N S H I P

I am the voice of the voiceless;

Through me the dumb shall speak,

Till the deaf world's ear be made to hear

The wrongs of the wordless weak.

 

From street, from cage and from kennel,

From stable and zoo, the wail

Of my tortured kin proclaims the sin

Of the mighty against the frail.

 

Oh, shame on the mothers of mortals

Who have not stopped to teach

Of the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes,

The sorrow that has no speech.

 

The same force formed the sparrow

That fashioned man the king;

The God of the whole gave a spark of soul

To furred and to feathered thing.

 

And I am my brother's keeper,

And I will fight his fight,

And speak the word for beast and bird,

Till the world shall set things right.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1850-1919